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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26787661">Coffee Shop Romance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MafuyusSweater/pseuds/MafuyusSweater'>MafuyusSweater</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Anxiety, Awkward Flirting, Barista Katsuki Yuuri, Consent, Developing Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Makkachin - Freeform, Victor plays violin, Victor with a c not a k, Yuri writes poetry, bookshop owner victor nikiforov, curse words, lightly sexual, love and support, there is kissing, yuri gets teased, yuri has anxiety</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:00:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>25,409</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26787661</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MafuyusSweater/pseuds/MafuyusSweater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuri is a barista who loves reading and writing poetry. Victor plays violin and owns a bookstore. Victor becomes a regular at the coffee shop and tries to get Yuri to notice him. Once he does, there was no going back. </p><p>Just a cute alternate universe story !</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>102</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Caught</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yuri was never a very lively or outgoing person. He tended to stay closed off when he was around people he didn’t know. But unfortunately you have to put on a certain act when you work at a coffee shop. He hated having to speak like he was having the best day ever when he was serving customers at 6am. But eventually the caffeine would settle in his stomach and he could start to enjoy life again. He wasn’t there to try and impress anyone and since the dress code was pretty lax he would wear jeans, a hoodie, and a beanie nearly everyday. In the summer he would wear a variety of plain oversized shirts or band tees. His hair was starting to get pretty long, he could pull it into a small bun but opted for a beanie most days because it would get in his way during work. The one consistent accessory he wore were his dark blue browline glasses. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One day Yuri decided to wear a button down and pull his hair back into a loose low ponytail. He noticed a man staring as he made a pour over. He was relatively tall with a slight muscular build and soft silver hair that covered half of his face and sapphire eyes. He wore several pieces of silver jewelry, a cream colored turtleneck, black dress pants, and black boots. He asked his coworker Chris later if he had seen the man before and apparently he had been coming in semi regularly for months now. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed the man before. But after Yuri caught him staring he definitely could not get him out of his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a normal Wednesday afternoon. Yuri was sitting and reading at the register since it was slow and there was nothing left to clean for a couple of hours he had enough time to read a couple of chapters before any customers walked in. Yuri looked up as he heard the door open and locked eyes with the man consuming his thoughts. But Yuri would not let him know how he was really feeling in that moment so he just said “hello, what can I get for you?”, in a welcoming but not too friendly voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man said “uh can I get a small coffee with cream?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want dark or light roast?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He tapped a finger on his lips and said “Hmm surprise me”, in a flirty tone with a wink.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... okay, that will be $1.85”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Yuri gave him dark roast since it was his favorite coffee today. After he handed him his drink, he found out his name was Victor by the way, he said “have a nice day” and ran back to the register as fast as possible even though there were no other customers to help. He pretended that he needed to restock cups even though they were already stacked higher than normal just so he could let his heart settle down. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What was wrong with you? He just asked for a coffee. Why are you about to have an anxiety attack Yuri? You really should quit caffeine for a while..</span>
  </em>
  <span> he said to himself as he stared off at a stain on the wall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Victor wasn’t sure if Yuri had reacted that way because of nerves or embarrassment. He hoped that he was just a shy person and wasn’t used to someone being so flirty with him. Not that Victor would be able to stay away or hold back. His crush on Yuri was too much to forget about now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Victor came in almost everyday after that but Yuri made sure to avoid register as much as possible to avoid giving himself another anxiety attack. He managed to avoid it for almost 2 weeks before he was stuck on it all night because no one else wanted to be on there that day. It had been a slow evening again so he spent most of it reading until Victor came in. He could feel his face getting hot and tried his best to calm his heart down. But it was so hard because Victor looked so good in his tight black turtleneck with silver necklaces and ripped black jeans. His blue eyes sparkled when he saw Yuri sitting at the register and couldn’t help but smirk a little bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, it feels like I haven’t seen you in a while”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahaha yeah..”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You seem to work a lot though because I usually see you on bar every time I come in and I come in a lot”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I work full time. What can I get for you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh uh, I’ll get a medium jasmine tea with honey please”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, that will be $2.10” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you uh..” Victor looked around for a name tag and couldn’t find one so he started getting red and panicked but before he could freak out even farther at the awkward situation he got himself in Yuri interrupted his anxious thoughts </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yuri.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh ahaha, thank you. It felt weird coming in here everyday and not knowing your name. I’m Victor” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know. We have to call out your drink by your name.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, well thanks Yuri” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Victor couldn’t get over how cute Yuri was. He couldn’t tell if Yuri liked him though or worse if Yuri hated him. He tried his luck with flirting with Yuri and it came out totally weird and he was ready to disappear after that.  He hoped Yuri would at least take pity on him and jokingly flirt back but his response was monotone and unenthusiastic. Victor thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest. But he plastered on a fake smile and acted like this was usual behavior for him. Normally Victor could flirt so easily. Charming people was one of his strong suits. But here was Yuri, turning all his charms and tricks into dirt. He wasn’t really sure what he could do to win him over. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri on the other hand was actually just trying to keep his composure because this beautiful awkward man always made Yuri’s heart beat out of its chest and his cheeks red. He didn’t know what to do. He can’t keep feeling like this every single day. His heart couldn’t take it. Yuri just wished he could figure out a way to stop feeling so nervous around the strange blue eyed man. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The weekend went by really quickly and Yuri could not be more disappointed. Although it was busy and Yuri liked when it was busy he didn’t see Victor for 3 days now. He was starting to wonder if he might have come off as too cold and made him think he hated him. He had been told by many people that he was slightly intimidating even though he is just a big softy with a mountain of anxiety and the occasional bout of depression. Unless you were a terrible person who hurt others for fun, he didn’t judge or hate anyone. Yuri was asked by his coworker Chris to switch shifts with him so he worked on a Tuesday which was normally his day off. It was pretty steady for a weeknight so he didn’t have much time to read like he usually enjoyed doing. He finally had a free moment to read a couple of chapters before he had to start cleaning again when the door opened and he was trying not to roll his eyes at his bad luck when he found them wandering into those familiar blue eyes he had missed. Victor looked surprised and stammered out “oh, I usually don’t see you today. What are you doing here tonight?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My coworker had a date tonight and forgot to call off so we switched shifts. Usually I go to poetry readings tonight so it wasn’t a huge deal to switch with him”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see, do you write poetry? Or do you just enjoy listening?” Victor said with a sparkle in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I write but I am way too anxious to ever read them to people let alone for a crowd haha.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I would love to read them sometime.” Victor blurted out. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shit that was dumb. I’m sure he thinks I’m creepy now. Fuck. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh uh well I’ve never really shared them with anyone but I guess if you share something you’ve made even if it’s bad that would be fine. That way we will be even in terms of embarrassment haha..” Yuri could feel his cheeks reddening and he was honestly amazed he was able to keep calm. It was probably because he was not expecting Victor to come in today so he wasn’t on edge for the whole shift like he normally was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes! I would love to. Let me give you my number so we can send each other stuff” Victor said all too happily. He was wearing the biggest grin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh uh yeah sure. Also what drink did you want? There is someone in line behind you now”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah sorry, I’ll get a small dark roast with cream please and here is my number” Victor winked at Yuri which might have been too much for him because Yuri got so red and quickly grabbed Victor’s coffee insisting he didn’t need to pay for it and ran back to help the next customer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri waited until the next day to text Victor so he could have his number. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t dreaming the whole thing and also was way too exhausted last night to stay awake long enough to talk to him. It was around 11 am by the time Yuri sent Victor a text. He assumed Victor would probably be at work and wouldn’t respond back for a while so he was surprised when he got a very fast reply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Yuri: </b>
  <span>hey, this is Yuri.. from the coffee shop. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>hello Yuri :-) how are you today? </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Yuri:</b>
  <span> I’m good, I was about to go get coffee and browse around for some new books. I don’t work today. You?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>I’m doing great! Where are you going to look for books? I’m actually working at that used book store on Oak street. You should stop by and bring me a cup of coffee pleeasssee :-) I’ll recommend some books for you!! </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Yuri: </b>
  <span>oh I know where that is. Yeah, I’ll stop by. Do you want me to just pick something for you? </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>Yes please! You probably know more about coffee than I do anyway haha ♡´･ᴗ･`♡</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri got dressed in a pair of green skinny jeans, a black sweater, and a white button down underneath. He usually wore a beanie but decided to pull his hair back into a little bun today. He stopped by the coffee shop his best friend Phichit owned and grabbed two cortados, one with soy milk for him. Cortados are his favorite drink and he hoped Victor would like them too even though he never really orders latte style drinks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Yuri walked through the door he was honestly amazed. The bookstore was beautiful. It was small but there was a loft area with a green iron spiral staircase, blankets and pillows scattered around for optimal comfort and books stacked to the ceiling. It was warm and had lots of plants which complemented the exposed brick wall. The rest of the shop was decorated with various paintings, each monochromatic but extremely detailed and expressed how each color made a person feel. The floor was old dark hardwood with a long deep sea green runner with a leaf design. Yuri didn’t even notice someone was trying to get his attention so when Victor said his name again and gently tapped his shoulder he nearly jumped out of his skin and dropped the cortados but thankfully he had a pretty good grip on them so they just spilled out of the top a little bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. I called your name a few times but you seemed so focused haha. What do you think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s beautiful..” Yuri said with a shaky smile. His heart was beating very fast for multiple reasons. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you like it. I spent a lot of time trying to get it just right. I hate when book stores look all stuffy”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, why did you decorate this? Wouldn’t the owner do that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am the owner.” Victor said with a smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?!” Yuri was so shocked. He tried to whisper but he ended up getting a few glares from the other patrons of the cozy book store. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hahaha, I’ve had this store for a few years now. I needed something to pay the bills. I wasn’t making enough money just playing violin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You play violin too.” Yuri just deadpanned the man. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How can someone be so perfect?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I play piano too but I’m not as good at that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What can’t you do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I can’t paint. Those up there were made by my friend Mila. She helps me out here sometimes too” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, tell her I think those are the most beautiful paintings I’ve ever seen. Really. They are incredible” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will! Anyway, can I have my coffee now please?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah sorry” Yuri had to check to make sure he gave Victor the one with whole milk, not soy. “Here you go. I got us both cortados. They are my favorite drink so I hope you like them. I got them from my best friend's coffee shop that is just down the street.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor took a sip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Vkusno~ that is amazing Yuri!” He nearly downed the whole thing right there but stopped himself. Yuri smiled as he took his first sip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank god you like it. I was worried I would have to go back and get you something else”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri and Victor talked for hours about their favorite books and music. Victor learned that Yuri is embarrassingly very into romance novels. He said they are his guilty pleasure. Normally Yuri reads mystery, psychological thrillers, and the odd book about animals/bugs. Victor tends to read classic literature, poetry, and psychology (Carl Jung/Oliver Sacks). He did admit that he does shamefully enjoy reading conspiracy theories. They got so distracted that it felt like only 30 minutes had passed when one of Victor's employees walked up to tell him they were closing in 5 minutes and they needed him to close out the drawer soon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yuri, I just need to help them close the store down for 20 minutes tops. Would you mind waiting and I’ll take you out for dinner? There is this amazing wood fired pizza place I want to take you to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I can wait but I am actually allergic to dairy. Do they have something I can eat without cheese?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, they have a ricotta cheese made out of almonds that is heavenly. You will love it!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay! I’ll just wait outside for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri liked the cold. He loved wearing sweaters and thick scarves. He loved the smell of the fresh autumn air, the crunching of the leaves and the cute way your nose turns pink when it’s chilly. By the time Victor was ready he walked out to find Yuri crouched down writing furiously into a worn out black notebook. He stood there for a little while and just watch Yuri pour out all his thoughts onto paper. Victor bit his lip and tried to keep his thoughts PG but oh my god Yuri was so attractive when he was lost in his own world. It took a few more minutes before Yuri was done and realized Victor had been waiting for a while because his nose was tinted pink now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope you didn’t wait for too long. I’m sorry I just got inspired to write while I was waiting for you out here.” Yuri reached an arm up the scratch the back of his neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is totally fine Yuri. I like watching you so focused on something you love. It’s like the world stops and nothing else matters except for the art. I get that way when I’m playing violin.” Victor smiled warmly and reached a hand out to lead Yuri in the direction of the restaurant. It had gotten dark since Yuri went outside and the street lights illuminated Victor's bright blue eyes and highlighted his shiny silver hair. He looked absolutely stunning. Yuri had to hold back on pulling his notebook out again to write a poem about how captivating Victor was. He didn’t want to make Victor wait for him again. When they got to the restaurant they were seated close to the wood fire pizza oven. Yuri was starting to regret wearing so many layers. He couldn’t take off his sweater though because it would reveal the newly forming sweat marks on his button down so he decided to just roll up the sleeves. Victor was wearing a black button down and had unbuttoned a little bit more once they got inside so Yuri could see his soft pale skin and some of his toned chest. He realized he had been looking for too long when he glanced up at Victor’s face and saw he wore an all knowing smirk. He didn’t say anything though and instead turned their attention to the menu. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I think we should order this one and do you want some wine?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh oh um yeah wine sounds good. Whatever you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perfect. I prefer red if that is okay?” Yuri nodded. “Wonderful. We can share the pizza too since it’s pretty big.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-okay” Yuri was sure his face was incredibly red but thankfully the light from the fire nearby and the candles made it hard to tell just how red his face was. They got through 2 glasses of wine by the time the pizza was ready and Yuri could feel it’s effect already. He hadn’t eaten since 9 am and it was now 8pm. At least the wine made him relax enough to flirt back with Victor now. He didn’t care if he looked like a drunk idiot. He was going to enjoy every second he had with Victor. After the pizza was finished Yuri caught himself staring longingly into Victor’s eyes. He decided now would be a good time to write another poem because he couldn’t get over how alluring his eyes were. Victor had been observing tipsy Yuri for a little while now. He wondered if Yuri noticed how they hadn’t said a word to each other since they finished the pizza. Yuri was so much more than he ever imagined. He was funny, cute, passionate, sexy, and so warm. Victor wanted to melt in his arms and never leave him. Something seemed to catch Yuri’s attention because he pulled away from their gaze and reached for his notebook again. This time he began drawing and writing in the margins. It was truly incredible how focused Yuri could be when he was writing. Victor wasn’t even sure if Yuri knew what he was doing or if he was on autopilot. By the time Yuri was done writing (and drawing) Victor had already paid and was starting to gather their coats. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god. I am so sorry Victor. I just get so lost when I write I didn’t even realize where I was. I will pay you back for the food! Ah I’m so sorry.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yuri, it was a pleasure watching you write. And don’t you dare try and pay me back for dinner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But-“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t be opposed to a second date with you though” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri’s eyes widened. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Did I really just hear that right? Are we on a date right now? Oh my god I am so embarrassed! What do I do? I’m freaking out. Shit</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“You want ME to go on a date with YOU? Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh Yuri, I could give you so many reasons why but the short answer is I have had a crush on you for so long and you are so incredibly hot. Why wouldn’t I want to date you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri just stood there dumbfounded. He didn’t notice they had stepped outside by then and were in the middle of walking back to the bookstore. Victor turned around to see why Yuri stopped walking with him. Panic set in when he saw Yuri just standing there with an expression that was hard to read. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh fuck, did I make Yuri uncomfortable? I really am too forward sometimes. I should apologize. I-</span>
  </em>
  <span> before Victor could finish that thought he felt warm lips crash into his. To his surprise the lips belonged to Yuri. After getting over the initial shock of being kissed by the man he had been crushing over for so long he melted into the kiss. Pulling Yuri closer and running his thumb on the edge of his jaw. Everything about it was so soft and so warm. He didn’t want it to end but eventually they had to stop to breathe again. When they pulled apart he could see how Yuri’s eyes sparkled and never wanted to let him go. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah” they stood in the middle of the sidewalk holding each other just enjoying the calm of autumn and feeling the heat of each other’s bodies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We should probably start heading back. It’s almost 11pm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shit really? I have to be up at 5am for work tomorrow.” Yuri looked like a wounded puppy when he realized his night with Victor had to end. They walked back to the bookshop and Victor drove Yuri to his apartment down the street. It didn’t take very long since Yuri lived within walking distance but Victor wanted to make sure he got home safely. When it was time for Yuri to leave he felt a pang in his chest. He didn’t want to let Victor go but he knew he needed to sleep soon to function at work tomorrow. They both said their goodbyes and kissed goodnight. As soon as Yuri closed the door he got a text. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>I miss you (つ .•́ _ʖ •̀.)つ</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri couldn’t help but smile. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Victor is such a dork</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He shook his head and typed out a response. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Yuri: </b>
  <span>I miss you too. I’ll see you tomorrow though! I’ll bring you a coffee after work since I’ll be off before you :-)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor embarrassingly squealed at the thought of seeing Yuri again so soon. He replied back quickly and drove away. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>I would love that ♡´･ᴗ･`♡</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Cuddling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor and Yuri spend the day together.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yuri could not sit still during his whole shift. He was cleaning things that were already clean and it was starting to concern some of his coworkers. Chris walked over to him and whispered “Hey Yuri, are you doing alright? You haven’t sat still for your entire shift.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri looked like he was pulled out of a trance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, I guess I’m more nervous than I thought haha. I’m seeing someone after work today.” Yuri blushed which was a rare sight for Chris. Usually he only did that when he was being teased by him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ooo you have a hot date or something?” Chris said jokingly. The look on Yuri’s face was indescribable. “Wait, are you actually going on a date? Holy shit dude. That is unbelievable. Oh no not in a bad way! You just never seem interested in anyone. Who is it? Someone I know?” Yuri wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell Chris it was one of the regulars that he was smitten over but he was too excited to hold it in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the guy that comes in here at night and gets a drip coffee or tea. He has silver hair, beautiful blue eyes, named Victor..” his heart was fluttering just at the thought of the man. Chris looked at Yuri with wide eyes and then smirked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh I didn’t know you were into the mysterious types. Is that why you never came onto me? I know I am an open book” Yuri frantically waved his hands in protest but then realized just how true Chris’ statement was. He was drawn to Victor because he wanted to work for it and learn everything he could about the man. Chris is the type of person to lay it all out in front of you, no surprises. “Hahaha well anyway, I’m so happy for you. But you are going to change right? You can’t go see him like that” Yuri was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie with a bee logo. He always wore casual stuff to work and didn’t really see what was wrong with it. But Chris eventually convinced him to go home and change into a half black half baby pink sweater during his break. He lived right next door so it didn’t take very long. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then it finally time to leave and he decided to bring Victor a small dark roast and a croissant (which are usually gone before Victor comes in). Chris had to help Yuri do breathing exercises before he left because he was on the verge of an anxiety attack. After his heart rate dropped to a normal level again he was off. Walking to the bookstore felt different today. He had expectations now. Whether or not Victor would fulfill the small fantasies going on in Yuri’s mind would be interesting. Yuri tried not to think about it too much though because he had a habit of romanticizing everything and ending up disappointed when life doesn’t turn out like the whirlwind romance movie playing in his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once he got outside the bookshop, he took a deep breath and opened the doors, trying to ground himself and not get too carried away in his thoughts again. Victor was wearing his usual black pants, black boots, and silver jewelry but this time he wore a deep red colored turtleneck which was unusual for him because he rarely wore anything that colorful. But damn he looked good. It took everything in Yuri not to kiss him right then and there. He opted for shoving pastry and coffee in his hands and stammering out a hello instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah thank you Yuri! And what is this? Oh a croissant. Where did you get this?” He said as he took a bite. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We bake them at Polar, we usually sell out before you come in though so I snagged one for you” </span>
  <em>
    <span>wah Victor is so cute when he eats something he likes</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmm well thank you.” He said with a smile. “Let’s sit in the loft area.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri followed Victor up the spiral staircase. It was just as beautiful as the rest of the store with fairy lights, pothos plants in each corner with purple grow lights. The loft was also lined with a fluffy dark grey carpet and had various sized dark pink floor pillows. There was a small nightstand sized bookshelf with pen, paper, pencil, and colored pencil. Along with some matching bookshelves along the other side but those were filled with actual books. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow it is so beautiful up here too. You really thought of everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you. I am honestly so glad you like it. This is my favorite spot in the whole store. I put my favorite books in those bookshelves over there as well.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh really! I would love to read some of them. Which one do you recommend?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, I would say The Lover by Marguerite Duras. It’s not too long so you could read it during a slow work shift. Here, you can borrow my copy” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you! I’ll take good care of it I promise!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sat up in the loft and talked for a long time about life and love and how sad it is that they can’t learn everything there is to know before they die or how there are books out there that could be their new favorite but they haven’t found it yet. Eventually they ended up laying down in each other’s arms just looking at the constellations painted on the ceiling in gold and listening to each other’s heart beats and breath. Yuri never felt so calm or safe in his entire life. He wished he could lay in Victor’s arms forever. The fact that he was having these thoughts about someone let alone about this mysterious man he only hoped would slowly open up to him over time. And yet here he was. Sharing an intimate and innocent moment with that very man. It was hard to wrap his head around it. Yuri never thought that anyone would ever show interest in him. He was plain and boring. The only interesting thing about him was his job and the fact that he writes poems. He couldn’t believe that this angel of a man was actually interested and wanted to get to know Yuri. It took everything in him to make himself believe that he did deserve this. Victor on the other hand also couldn’t believe he was so lucky. He had been trying to get the attention of the barista for months now and it was only a few weeks ago that had Yuri even noticed him. Everyone told him his entire life that he was too much and he tried to be subtle but Yuri was not the type to get subtlety. He needed Victor to say it straight up to his face. But that didn’t mean he would lay it all out on the line. Victor was still scared of getting hurt again. He built those walls up for a reason. Yuri was able to break down those walls much faster than anyone else before. Maybe that was because he is the first person that Victor felt like he could trust without having to earn it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both took in a deep breath and fell fast asleep laying in each other’s arms. When Yuri awoke he felt unsettled by how dark it was. He leaned over to shake Victor awake who looked so cute with drool falling down his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Victor, I think we fell asleep for a long time. The whole store is dark now. We should probably get up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmm what?” Victor opened his eyes to see it was indeed very dark. “Oh.” They both collected their things and made their way down the stairs and over to the register so Victor could close the drawer down. It looked like his employees messaged him saying the locked the door and put the drawer in the safe since they couldn’t get us to wake up when it was time to close. Yuri looked at his phone. It was already 7pm, the store had been closed for 2 hours. So they must have been asleep for 3. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Victor, do you want to have dinner together again? I can cook some noodles if that’s alright with you?” That made Victor’s ears perk up and he walked over to Yuri, gently caressing the side of his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh of course my dear. I would love to see where you live and taste you- uh I mean your cooking..” then Victor winked and turned back to lock the safe. Yuri stood there speechless. The only other person who talked that way with Yuri was Chris but he was always joking. It felt totally different to hear it from someone he was actually interested in. It made him uneasy but in the best way.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Cooking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yuri cooks for Victor</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They decided to take Victor’s car again to Yuri’s apartment since it was dark out and they were both incredibly hungry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well this is my place. Please take your shoes off and you can sit here if you would like or there is a couch as well.” Yuri’s apartment was small but it was enough space for him. The walls were a pastel blue-green color with dark wood floors, and dark brown trim. The entryway had a small shoe rack and white mosaic umbrella holder. The living room was the room you saw first. It was filled with plants, which sat on top of a long bookcase, next to that was a black record player. The couch was nothing exciting, it was just a nice black leather loveseat with two dark green velvet chairs on either side. The kitchen had a small island which was being used as a dining table since there wasn’t space for one elsewhere. It was a plain white and black tiled kitchen with mostly white appliances but a black fridge and countertops. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am just going to make some udon. Do you have any foods you don’t like?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh no, I’m not picky when it comes to food”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perfect. It should be done soon”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Victor wandered back into the living room and found himself sitting in front of the short bookcase. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hmm it looks like Yuri organized these by genre and book title. That’s how I like to organize mine at home too. I know some people do it by author or color which never made sense to me unless you don’t actually read</span>
  </em>
  <span>..</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Victor! The food is ready now!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for the food” they both said and took their first bite. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm vkusno!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You like it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, it’s so warm and light. Thank you for making this. I’ve never had udon before”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m happy you like it. I wanted to make something that wasn’t too heavy and warmed us up.” Yuri gave Victor an unexpected smirk. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What is going on in Yuri’s head right now? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once the food was done Victor insisted on doing the dishes so Yuri took the opportunity to go to his room for a second. He forgot that he didn’t clean it yesterday and there were clothes all over the floor and the bed wasn’t made. After cleaning the room in a panic he started to sweat so he took his sweater off to cool down. He didn’t even hear Victor walking in until he heard a quiet gasp. Victor was looking at Yuri with lustful eyes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my god.. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yuri quickly threw his sweater back on and with red cheeks managed to say “ah how long have you been there? I didn’t even hear you coming. You scared the shit ou-“ but before Yuri could finish Victor had walked all the way across the room and had his hand on Yuri’s neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yuri, I want to kiss you so badly..” Yuri wanted to capture this moment forever. He closed the gap between them and kissed Victor with a gentle intensity that caused his stomach to do somersaults. They fell back onto Yuri’s bed and kissed each other until they ran out of breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow I love kissing you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm me too.” Victor grabbed Yuri’s head and placed it on his chest. They laid there in each other’s arms enjoying the peaceful silence and gentle thumping of their hearts beating in sync. “Hey Yuri, did you mind sharing that poem you wrote the other day with me? What was it about anyway? I’ve been curious about it ever since you pulled your notebook out at dinner yesterday.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh um.. it was about.. how pretty you are…” Yuri glanced up at Victor with soft eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay now you really have to share it with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A- alright. Let me go get my notebook. Hold on.” Yuri handed Victor the notebook and said “I am way too embarrassed to read it out loud so here you go..”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s like the stars were created for you</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They illuminate your eyes like that's what they were always meant to do</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The lights on the city streets follow you around like a spotlight </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Showing you off to the world like it’s your stage</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The wind gently flows through your hair in slow motion </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Time stops for you</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Everything you do is brought to a speed that lets you be savored and appreciated</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How unfair it was to give one person so much beauty</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The bluest eyes, the softest smile, the gentlest touch, the calmest voice, the cutest blush </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Every moment with you feels like a dream</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What did I do to deserve this?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When it seemed like Victor was done Yuri started to panic when he didn’t say anything. He was about to ask him what he thought but then he saw Victor turn to him with tears in his eyes. “Y- Yuri.. that was the most beautiful poem I have ever read. Am I really that pretty?” He let out a light chuckle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y- yeah. I think you are the most beautiful person I have ever met.” Yuri had his hands in his lap but looked up to see Victor quietly sobbing. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I am so lucky.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Victor didn’t say anything else. He pulled Yuri into a hug and kissed his neck whispering thank you’s into his skin. Victor had never been treated with such kindness before. Everyone saw him as a chess piece, a pawn, he never felt so seen, so cared for. Yet here was a man who made Victor feel loved for the first time in his life. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh Yuri, what did I do to deserve you?</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Cortado</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sara finds out that Yuri has a love interest and is very excited.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry I am so bad with chapter name ideas ahhh</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Some people may say that Victor and Yuri were moving too fast but it didn’t feel that way to them. The moment they started talking it was like they had been doing so for their entire lives. Being together felt right. That didn’t mean they both didn’t have their insecurities and reservations. Yuri was worried that Victor was only interested in him because he was bored or saw him as a fun new thing to try out and then throw away when he was done. Victor was worried that Yuri was only interested in him because he was pretty and had a lot of money. It was going to take a long time for both of them to fully trust each other but they both wanted to put the time in. In their heart they knew this was it, they didn’t need to find anyone else, they were soulmates. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sun poured into the room and Victor was the first to wake up. The light was shining right in his eyes which caused him to turn, waking Yuri up in the process. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmm Victor, what time is it?” Yuri said while rubbing his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s uh 8am”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh good, do you have work today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm not really. I kind of just set my own hours and there are two people there today so I don’t need to be there until later”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm good” Yuri yawned and pulled in closer to Victor, hugging his chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stayed like this for another 30 minutes before Yuri got up to make coffee. Victor took the opportunity to get a look around Yuri’s room since he didn’t get a chance to do so last night. It was the same color as the rest of the apartment but the wall opposite the bed was covered in drawings, paintings, and postcards of various sizes. Yuri’s dresser was a dark wood color with tiny clay figurines of bugs, fruits, and weird looking creatures. They were painted with pastels and looked handmade. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Victor, the coffee is ready!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, thank you! I’ll be right there.” Victor checked himself in the mirror and tried his best to flatten out his mangled hair. “Mm smells good.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the coffee was consumed Victor took his leave. Yuri had to close that night and he needed to shower and eat beforehand so they decided it was best to see each other later. Work was uneventful, Yuri spent most of the time deep cleaning the espresso machine and read a little of the book Victor recommended. His coworker Sara chatted with him about how her brother started taking an interest in ceramics too. He is the type to dismiss her hobbies at first but end up loving it. She is the reason why he is a figure skater after all. He is pretty good too. Sara decided to quit last year to pursue a career in ceramics but is working at the coffee shop part time to pay for her expenses. She was the one who made all those little ceramic figurines in Yuri’s room. He was her first customer and fell in love with the weird little creatures. Her brother is more interested in pottery making though and has already made 6 mugs and a bowl. He is hoping to get good enough to sell them to coffee shops and is encouraging Sara to do the same. Her work is more abstract and unusual but he is sure some indie coffee shop owner would love her unique style. “Oh, I love that book! You usually don’t read that kind of stuff. What made you pick that one?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh well someone recommended it to me.” Yuri started blushing and he was trying to hide a smile but Sara noticed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My, my Yuri, who could have possibly recommended this book that caused that cute reaction out of you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please don’t tell anyone but it’s the regular who comes in at night, Victor. We actually went on a date the other day and he spent the night last night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah! What?! Why didn’t you say something sooner? I’m so happy for you. He is so HOT too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sara, please be quiet ah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“oh sorry.. I’m just so excited. You’ve never shown interest in anyone. Plus you deserve to be happy. He makes you happy right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he makes me really happy.” Yuri didn’t hide his grin that time and leaned into a closed fist. He started fantasizing about what he and Victor would do the next time they saw each other when the door opened and in walked Victor. He was wearing his usual black pants, black boots, and silver jewelry but today he had on a baby blue oversized sweater and black peacoat. Sara gave Yuri a look and walked off to the storage room saying she was grabbing more cups but they didn’t need cups. “Hello.” Yuri said with a smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello to you too.” Victor unashamedly looking Yuri up and down. “How has your shift been so far?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s been so boring. I did start reading the book you recommended though. I haven’t gotten far enough to form an opinion on it but I’ll let you know what I think when I’m done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perfect. I was hoping I could get a coffee. I would love a cortado actually and I wanted to know if you work tomorrow?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m off tomorrow. Did you have something in mind?” Yuri walked over to the bar and Victor followed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m actually performing tomorrow night so I thought we could spend the day together and then you can come see me play violin for the first time. You can bring a friend if you don’t want to sit alone since I have to be on stage.” Yuri started steaming milk and answered with his eyes on the milk to make sure it wouldn’t overflow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would love to! And I’ll probably bring my friend Phichit. He really likes classical music and he isn’t going to embarrass me unlike Chris.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wonderful, we can have lunch beforehand too. I’ll pick you up at 12? The concert doesn’t start til 6 but I want to spend as much time with you as I can.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds great. I can’t wait. I would love to make you food again if you don’t mind.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you kidding me? No, I would not mind having a hot guy make me food.” Victor winked and Yuri blushed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh good then, and here is your drink.” Yuri put a little heart in the cortado which made Victor’s heart soar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah I love it. Thank you Yuri~ I’ll see you tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your night.” Victor wanted to call him darling but was worried that would be too much for Yuri. They would get there eventually. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sara walked out of the “storage room” a second later with the biggest grin. “My, my Yuri. Your face could not be more red right now haha. He seems to really like you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope so, I think I’m falling in love with him already.” Sara grabbed him into a bear hug and squealed. It started raining shortly after Victor left so the store was completely empty by closing time which was unusual. They got out of there in record time and Yuri headed off into the rain to walk the short distance to his apartment. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Concert</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor performs, Yuri cries.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yuri had to take a melatonin to be able to fall asleep last night. He was way too excited and nervous for his date tomorrow. He made sure to set 5 alarms so he wouldn’t accidentally sleep in too late. Yuri decided to make some chicken katsu onigirazu, tamagoyaki, sliced oranges, pickled radish and cucumber. Once he was done with that he took a shower and got dressed. He would change again for the concert later so he wore a more casual outfit that consisted of a large black sweater and light wash blue jeans. Yuri had just finished putting on face lotion when he heard a knock on the door. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He opened the door to find Victor standing there with two paper bags. He wore a black and white striped sweater and dark grey pants. “Hello, please come in.” Victor walked in and took off his boots then made his way into the kitchen with Yuri. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I brought some drinks and dessert from my favorite little bakery near my place. I hope you like rose because I brought rose tea and little vanilla cakes with strawberries.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I like roses a lot actually. Thank you for bringing all this.” They decided it was best to eat at Yuri’s place since it would be a hassle to lug it all to the bookstore. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mm Yuri, you are such an incredible cook. I am so lucky!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.” They started eating the desserts and Yuri felt like he was in heaven. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love it. Oh and you have a little something right there.” Victor leaned over and licked frosting off the corner of Yuri’s mouth. “All better.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuri was too stunned to respond back with words so he leaned in and kissed Victor. Once the dessert was finished and the kitchen was cleaned they decided to get coffee at his friends shop. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Phichit was in the office doing paperwork when one of his employees knocked on the door. “Yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello, um someone is here to see you. It’s your friend Yuri and someone I don’t know.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah yes, thank you Stephanie.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Phichit walked out to see his friend with a very tall and attractive man. He assumed this is who Yuri has been gushing about for weeks. “Why hello Yuri, I thought we weren’t meeting until later. I was just in the office doing paperwork. And who might this be?”, he said with eyebrows raised. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is Victor, we are going to see him perform tonight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh so this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> Victor. The one you have been obsessing over for weeks now. Nice to meet you.” Phichit reached out for a handshake while Yuri was on the verge of a full mental shutdown. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, and you must be Phichit. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh Yuri when you said his voice was sexy I didn’t expect it to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> sexy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ohmygodphichitpleaseshutupimsoembarrassed.”, Yuri covered his face with his hands to hide his embarrassment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That caused both the other men to start cackling. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yuri, it’s okay, I’ll have you know I’ve been annoying Mila for the past few months because I can’t stop talking about you. You are just too cute.” Phichit could tell Yuri had shut down and decided to end the teasing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So what can I get for you two? It’s on the house of course.” Victor looked over at unresponsive Yuri and made the decision for him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We will have two cortados please, one with soy milk for my sweet sweet Yuri over here.” Victor put his arm around Yuri which seemed to knock him out of his trance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh yeah that is good. Thanks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perfect, I’ll have Stephanie bring them over to you. Please sit anywhere you would like.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They found a seat near the window but far enough from the door so they wouldn’t get blasted with the cold air. It was a small two person table with one pink carnation in the center. Stephanie brought over their drinks pretty quickly and they thanked her before returning to their conversation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean you haven’t been to a Christmas market?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In Russia Christmas isn’t that big of a deal and I guess since moving I never really had anyone to celebrate with either.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There is no way I’m letting you go this year without going to one! They are the best. There is mulled wine, Christmas lights, ice skating, warm food, and it’s packed with street vendors.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do love mulled wine and I haven’t been ice skating in a while…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well you have no choice but to go now.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Haha alright alright. When shall we go my dear?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They usually start at the beginning of December but the best time to go is right in the middle of the month because it’s not too crowded.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perfect, I can’t wait.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They sat around and talked for hours until Victor’s phone alarm went off signaling that he had to get ready for the concert now. He drove Yuri home and reluctantly said his goodbyes. Yuri messaged Phichit saying that he would be ready at 5:30 and he got in the shower. There was still some left over food from lunch so he ate a little snack before he got dressed. He wore a pair of black dress pants, a matching jacket, a satin baby pink button down that Chris loaned to him, and a dark grey tie with silver flowers embroidered on it. There was still 15 minutes until Phichit would arrive so he decided to read more of The Lover. He wasn’t sure what to think of it at first but it was slowly starting to get interesting. Before he knew it there was a knock on the door and they were on their way to the concert. Victor had given him the tickets before he left but didn’t say where the seats were so they were surprised when someone came over to escort them to the front row of the balcony. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow Yuri, you can see everything from here. Victor really didn’t hold back. Oh and looks like you are in this seat, he put your name on it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm I wonder why.” Yuri and Phichit talked for a little bit before the lights dimmed and you could hear people shuffling onto the stage. The lights slowly lit up the orchestra and introductions were made. Yuri was trying to find Victor in the sea of people and finally spotted him in the first chair of the violin section. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yuri, I didn’t know Victor was that good at violin.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t either..” The first chair position is reserved for the best musician and it is a very competitive and highly respected seat. The music began growing softly and Yuri recognized it immediately. Maurice Ravel is his favorite composer. Yuri leaned over to whisper to Phichit, “this is by my favorite composer.” He turned his attention back to the stage and was amazed at how beautiful Victor looked. It seemed as though the whole concert was a tribute to Maurice Ravel since they were only playing songs he composed. There was a brief intermission and Yuri and Phichit drank a glass of wine and talked about how incredible Victor was. The next half of the concert began and Yuri was captivated the entire time. The last song was about to begin and Victor looked directly into Yuri’s eyes. His stomach did somersaults, Yuri watched him closely with teary eyes and a full heart as he poured his heart and soul into the piece. When it was all over Phichit looked over to see his friend in tears. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, are you okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah I’m just so happy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s good. We can take a second before we go down to give Victor his bouquet.” By the time they got downstairs Victor was surrounded by a pretty large crowd. But as soon as he locked eyes with Yuri he excused himself and walked over to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello, oh are you okay? You look like you were crying?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuri laughed, “Yeah that last piece just made me a little emotional. Did you know Maurice Ravel is my favorite composer or what is just a coincidence?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was a coincidence but I did know he was your favorite. Most of your records are of his work. I hope you both enjoyed yourself and thank you for the flowers. They are beautiful but not as beautiful as you of course.” He placed a finger under Yuri’s chin and lifted his head up so he could look into his eyes. They got lost in each other’s gaze until Phichit coughed a little to remind them where they were. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You were really good Victor! Yuri and I were amazed that you are the first chair. And judging by that performance it was well deserved.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why thank you Phichit.” Victor bowed. “I need to finish saying my thank you’s. Can I see you later tonight?” Victor looked at Yuri who nodded. “Alright, see you later.” Then Victor kissed Yuri on the cheek and walked back to the crowd.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Full concert:<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHrstmOPKBQ&amp;t=78s<br/>https://youtu.be/GKkeDqJBlK8<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5oVgqIbOqw&amp;t=54s</p>
<p>These are the songs performed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Comforting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor gets emotional~</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The drive back to Yuri’s apartment was calm. He was still happy off the high of Victor’s performance and goodbye kiss so it was hard to pay attention to what Phichit was saying. At some point Phichit realized that Yuri was too far gone to be an active conversationalist so he opted for listening to the Beethoven cd Yuri put in. He had to tap Yuri out of his trance when they were stopped outside his apartment door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah I am so sorry Phichit. I don’t even remember the ride home. Thank you for coming with me though. I don’t think I would have been able to hold it together if I was there alone. I hope you enjoyed yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about it Yuri. I like seeing you so happy. Victor seems like a really sweet guy. He is lucky to have you. Now get inside and get ready for him to come over. He texted you while we were driving but you were so out of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah he did?! Thank you again. I have to go now. Goodbye Phichit-kun!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night Yuri.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Yuri walked into the door and took off his shoes he checked his phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>I am finally done, I just need to go home and put the flowers you got me in a vase and grab a change of clothes. Is it alright if I stay the night? </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Yuri:</b>
  <span> of course! Sorry I was zoned out during the car ride and didn’t hear my phone. I can’t wait to see you. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor:</b>
  <span> perfect~ I can’t wait to see you too. I’ll be there in 15 minutes (●’◡’●)ﾉ</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri scrambled to get ready, he made his bed, lit a vanilla scented candle, picked up some clothes that were on his desk chair and washed his face. He heard a knock on the door when he was reaching to grab two glasses and a bottle of Merlot. He took a deep breath and opened the door. Victor stood there with his own bottle of wine, a Bordeaux, a canvas bag which presumably had a change of clothes inside, and he was still wearing the clothes he performed in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello Yuri, I’m glad you also decided to keep your suit on. You look so good in it. May I come in?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh yeah, sorry.” He waited for Victor to take his shoes off and took his bag from him to put in his room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh I guess I came at the perfect time. It looks like you were about to open a bottle of wine.” Victor set his own bottle on the kitchen island and turned around to face Yuri who was walking back from his bedroom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can drink yours, I’ve never even tried the one I have. It was a birthday gift from Chris.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds good to me.” Victor smiled and poured them each a glass. It was sweet and full of red fruit flavors like plum and black currant, with earthy notes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to sit on the couch?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri put on his favorite Maurice Ravel vinyl and sat on the side of the couch that is closer to the window so he could watch the quiet of the city streets and the lightly falling snow. Victor just sat beside him and watched the sparkle in his eyes as he saw the first few snowflakes fall. He couldn’t believe how beautiful Yuri was and how sweet and kind he turned out to be. At first he thought Yuri might hate him because he was never as overly friendly with him as the other baristas but the more he learned about him the more he realized he was simply picky about who gets to see this vulnerable side of him. Victor was the same way in that regard. He was always putting on a happy, smiling face and did everything with confidence. But in reality he was scared. He wanted desperately to be liked and never stopped to think about how no matter how many friends he had he couldn’t cure his loneliness. Most of his “friendships” were shallow and never lasted long. His longest and closest friend was Mila. She grew up with him so she saw him before he created the public persona he walks around as most of the time. With Yuri he felt his walls breaking down with very little effort. There was something about him that made him feel safe and cared for. He felt like Yuri wouldn’t run away from the real Victor, he might even embrace it and love it. Victor could feel his eyes welling up and turned away to look at the edge of the carpet trying to calm his loud mind. Yuri noticed the shift and turned to look at the man who looked deep in thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, are you okay?” Yuri placed his hand on Victor’s shoulder and when Victor turned to face him, he could see the tears forming and pulled Victor into a hug. “It’s alright. I’m here if you want to talk it out.” They stayed like this for a little while longer until Victor’s breath became more calm and his tears seemed to subside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, I got so overwhelmed. I am just so happy. This doesn’t feel real to me yet.” Victor spoke barely above a whisper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri stroked his back and whispered in a calm and sweet tone, “don’t worry Victor. This is real, I am here and I’m not going anywhere. I care about you too much to let you go now.” Victor gave him a sultry look and wiped the tears off his face. He grabbed a hold of Yuri’s face and leaned in for a passionate kiss. Yuri pulled away and leaned into Victor’s neck teasing him with hot breath and purred “let’s get a little more comfortable.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>please give me your opinions !!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Closeness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor and Yuri being cute. Makkachin is in the chapter. Chris and Sara embarrass Yuri a little bit. Mostly just fluff no drama.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yuri wasn’t sure what came over him. He wasn’t usually the type to be so commanding. He pulled Victor into his room by his tie and pushed him up against the wall, leaning in and overpowering him with eager kisses. Victor wrapped his arms around Yuri’s waist and closed the distance between them. Between kisses and staggered breath Yuri managed to whisper “do you want to move this to the bed?” Victor nodded in response and Yuri pulled Victor by the tie again and pushed him down on the bed. He could see the hungry look in Victor’s eyes which egged him on even more. “Is it alright if I take this off?” Yuri had a loose grip on Victor’s shirt and tie. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes Yuri, if I can do the same?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes..please.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both fell back onto the bed panting and drenched in sweat. “Wow..” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah..” once they both caught their breath Yuri suggested they should probably take a shower and eat something since neither of them had dinner yet. They decided to order take out because they were both way too exhausted and hungry to bother cooking tonight. Victor insisted on paying and ordered pad Thai and spring rolls for the both of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were both in sweatpants and tshirts sitting across each other on the floor at Yuri’s coffee table. Victor had his foot stretched out so he could touch Yuri’s and they ate their food as they listened to one of Victor’s favorite murder podcasts. He picked one that was a little less gruesome than some of the cases can be because he knew Yuri was sensitive to that kind of thing based on how he talked about the genre of books he liked reading the most. With food consumed and dishes done they retreated back to the bed, Yuri had to change the sheets before they laid down because of what happened on them earlier. Victor laid down first, lifting his arm up so Yuri could crawl into his embrace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you Yuri.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm for what?” Yuri turned so he could look into his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For being so understanding, amazing, loving, and everything I didn’t realize I needed in my life. I appreciate you and want to cherish you with everything I have in me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Victor, you’re going to make me cry.” He said as he was crying. “You deserve all the kindness the world has to offer. No one has made me feel so safe and so understood and special. Usually people just take advantage of me and toss me out once they get bored.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could never do that! I can’t believe someone would throw this cute ass away.” He grabbed Yuri’s butt which caused him to squeal. “Hahaha see! You are so cute.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually they fell asleep and were woken up at the ungodly hour of 5am since Yuri had to work an opening shift that day. Victor quickly fell back to sleep but Yuri groggily and very reluctantly peeled himself out of Victor’s grip and headed to the bathroom to get ready. He had some fresh bruises on his neck so he would have to wear a turtleneck today or else he would not hear the end of it from Chris for the entire shift. Yuri hopped in the cold shower hoping that would wake him up. Once the water finally warmed up his thoughts drifted to the man laying in his bed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I wonder if Victor feels the same way I do. It’s almost suffocating how much I think about him and how I would cry if he ever left. I know, I know, that is so pathetic Yuri. You don’t even know him very well. There is just something about him specifically that is making me act “different”. A good kind of “different”. Man, I really hope I don’t fuck this up somehow… no no no don’t dwell on the thought. You are just going to make yourself stressed out for nothing. He said last night that he didn’t want to let me go but what if he changes his mind? What if I scare him off like I always do? What if-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri was startled out of his thoughts when he heard the bathroom door open. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm Yuri, you’ve been in there for a while. Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ye-yeah I’m okay. I just lost track of time. What time is it anyway?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s 5:30..”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“WHAT?! Ahhh I have to be at work in 10 minutes.” Yuri scrubbed the conditioner out of his hair and dried himself off as fast as he could leaving some wet spots but not really caring because he had no time. Victor didn’t drive Yuri to work since he lived right next door luckily so they said goodbye outside and Yuri gave him a long and sympathetic kiss before running towards the shop. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god I like that boy way too much haha.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once his heart settled down, Yuri was able to function like a somewhat normal person. Chris was in charge of the music today and he put on his usual Spotify playlist of Frank Ocean, Keshi, Still Woozy, and other similar artists. The music definitely helped mellow Yuri out from the heightened anxious state from earlier. He was softly singing along to Chanel by Frank Ocean when Sara walked in to take over for the closing shift. She made a beeline for Yuri and even though he couldn’t see her since he was making a drink he could feel her intense aura coming towards him at a very fast pace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So Yuri, give me all the details of your date and do it now. I can hardly contain myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chris glanced up from the counter at the end of the bar he was restocking and said “Yuri, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you went on a date last night. Is that why you look so disheveled this morning?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri could feel his face getting red and his heart rate increasing. “Uh yeah, Phichit and I went to see Victor perform in an orchestra last night and he might have ..stayed over..” the last two words were spoken at barely a whisper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh I’m sorry Yuri what was that last thing you said?”, Chris teased. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri took a deep breath and said “VictorspentthenightandImnotsayinganythingelseaboutit..”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both Chris and Sara all but screamed “wait what?” “Way to go, Yuri!”, Sara grabbed him in for a hug. “I’m so happy for you. I assume everything is going well between you too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I really like him.” Sara pulled away from Yuri to see him blushing with a smile. “Anyway, Chris and I should probably finish cleaning up so we can leave.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri collapsed on the bed once he got home and hadn’t even taken his scarf off before he passed out. He woke up 2 hours later from the ringer on his cellphone. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh it’s Victor. I hope everything is okay..</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm hello?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Yuri~ I hope I didn’t wake you. I have a huge favor to ask.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh it’s fine, what do you need?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I usually ask Mila to do this but she is out of town. I need someone to watch my dog Maccachin. I have to drive to pick up a special order for a customer. It’s going to take me a couple hours and Maccachin needs to be fed in an hour and taken for a walk.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I can do that. I love dogs! Do you need me to come over now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That would be amazing. Thank you so much. I’ll buy you dinner. I’ll pick you up right now. I should be there in 10 minutes. I really appreciate this Yuri.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s honestly no problem.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay thank you so much again. I’ll see ya soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See ya.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Yuri closed the car door Victor leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I hope you had a good day.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh yeah I did. How was your day? Did you get to fall back asleep after I left?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I slept for another 3 hours actually. Your bed is very comfortable. Plus it smells like you so I was out cold as soon as you left.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri was looking out the window as they passed the bookstore and realized they were driving into a residential area. “Oh do you not live in an apartment?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I didn’t tell you? I own a house actually. Mila is my neighbor.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They pulled into the driveway of a small two story Victorian style house. The yard had a stone path to the front door. The house itself was a light mint green color with white and dark gray trim around the window, the door was a dark wood with an old iron handle. The porch had a couple rocking chairs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your house is beautiful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you. It’s even more amazing in the spring because my lawn is mostly wild flowers and I put some of my plants out on the porch too so they get lots of sunlight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Victor led the way inside and was almost knocked down by his fairly large poodle. “Why hello my dear. I missed you too”, Victor cooed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my gosh Victor. He is so cute! He looks just like the dog I had as a kid” Yuri’s eyes sparkled and his heart felt full. He loved dogs so much but he wasn’t allowed to have them in his apartment. Yuri sat on his knees to let the dog excitedly lick his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor started to explain where the food, the lease, and the spare key were and Yuri did his best to pay close attention even though he was still playing with Maccachin on the floor. “Do you think you got all that? You can always call me if you have an emergency.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I got it. This is going to be so fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright” Victor bent down to pet his pup, “I’ll be back in a couple hours buddy. I love you so much. Be good for Yuri.” Maccachin woofed in response, his tongue flopping out of his mouth. “Here is money for dinner, the address is on the envelope so you can order delivery if you want.” Yuri stood up to take it and wrapped his arms around Victor’s neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Drive safe. Let me know when you get there and when you are on your way back please.” He stood on his tippy toes and kissed Victor’s lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will my dear. See you in a couple hours.” Victor sighed and left the house once again. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I might add some drama I don’t know.. I just love the being cute and in love ahh</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Phone Call</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just Yuri and Makkachin hanging out. Yuri tours Victors house and goes for a walk with Makkachin.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Alright Makkachin, we still have 30 minutes so let’s explore the house.” Yuri pet the dogs head and headed off into the living room. Makkachin was hopping along right behind him. The living room was to the left of the doorway. There were plants everywhere, two dark blue velvet arm chairs, a matching sofa, and a dark wood coffee table. The walls were a similar shade of green as the outside of the house with a slightly more blue tint to it. Yuri walked through it into the doorway across the room. The whole house seemed to have old furnished wood flooring but the kitchen was dark grey tile. The walls were a light grey color and the appliances were all black. Each cabinet had a ceramic door knob painted with flowers in muted tones. There was a small dark wood island with matching stools and on top was a bowl of red apples. He curved around to head upstairs and the first bedroom seemed to be a music room/office space. Victor’s violin case was on a desk with music sheets scattered around it. There was also a small keyboard and bookshelf with various books on music theory and more sheet music. The room next to it was the bathroom. It was a half bath with the same tile as the kitchen and a light green vine wallpaper. Turned around to look at the rooms on the other side of the hall and opened the door to the master bedroom. It was fairly large with a queen size bed in the middle. There was another book shelf but this one had a variety of books on it and one of those shelves had photos of Victor and Makkachin and old cameras. Another had vinyls and there was a record player on a stand next to the bookshelf. There was also a dark blue velvet chair that matched the ones downstairs except this one had an ottoman. Makkachin wandered off into what Yuri assumed was the bathroom so he followed and his jaw dropped when he saw the pristine white porcelain clawfoot tub. This might seem weird but Yuri was in love with taking baths and one of the requirements for his future home was to have a clawfoot tub. It’s big enough to fit two people in it comfortably. Just the thought of potentially taking a bath with Victor caused Yuri to blush and he quickly let the bathroom before his imagination got carried away. “Alright Makkachin, lets go feed you dinner.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> As soon as he heard the last word he started galloping towards the kitchen. Yuri let his food settle for a little while then he took him out for a walk. The neighborhood was full of trees and all the houses looked old but that classic historical charming type of old. No one else was outside since it was the middle of winter. Yuri found a little wood area that surrounded a semi frozen pond. They spent an hour walking around until Yuri’s stomach started growling and he motioned for them to turn back towards the house. Once they got inside Yuri wiped off Makkachin’s paw and let him loose in the house. He decided to order 2 gyros, dolmas, and falafel with a side of hummus. Victor had messaged him half an hour ago that he was on his way back so he ordered enough for the two of them. The food arrived only 20 minutes before Victor got back so Yuri decided to snack on the falafel until he got back so they could eat together. Makkachin was laying on the floor at Yuri's feet who had retreated into the living room to read when the pup suddenly got up and ran towards the door. Victor walked through the door a minute later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Honey, I’m home!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“haha very funny Victor.”, Yuri said in the most sarcastic tone he could muster. “I ordered food for you and wanted to wait so we could eat together. I hope you like Greek food.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love Greek food. Not as much as Japanese but I can have that later tonight.”, Victor winked and licked his lips. The face Yuri made caused him to break out into a laughing fit. “You should see the face you made just now.. haha” that caused Yuri to cover his face and turn away from Victor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Victor oh my god.. you are too much sometimes.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh but you love it.”, he walked over to sit next to Yuri on the couch and wrapped his arms around him and kissed his neck. “Come on, let's go eat. I’m starving!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah hold on, I’m getting a phone call.” Yuri answered the phone. “Hi mom, what’s going on?” Yuri’s eye went wide. He managed to say “what?”, before he passed out on Victor’s living room floor.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I don’t know if I described things too much since this entire chapter is just describing Victors incredible house oops</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Call to Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yuri finds some startling news. He faints before he hears the whole story but when he comes to he has a lot of work to do. Victor supports him every step of the way.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Victor checked to make sure Yuri was breathing and took the phone which had fallen under the coffee table and said “hello, it seems that Yuri has passed out. This is Victor. I’m going to call an ambulance to make sure he is okay. I’ll keep you updated.” Victor listened to the now very stressed out woman on the phone and replied, “don’t worry, he fell on the carpet so he should be fine.” He nodded, “yes, no problem, goodbye Mrs. Katsuki.” After he hung up the call he rang up 911 and explained the situation. They sent out an ambulance just to make sure his vitals were okay and he didn’t hurt himself from the fall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri came to and heard the sound of the ambulance pulling up. “Mmm what happened?” He tried to stand up but Victor gently laid him back down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You passed out Yuri. Thankfully you fell on the carpet but I called 911 to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself. I need to let them inside now. I’ll be right back.” He kissed his forehead and opened the door. A second later two EMTs came in and started asking Yuri questions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of the EMTs named Matt walked over to Victor, “well everything looks good, just make sure he eats and drinks water. It seems like he just fainted from a panic attack. Be sure to also elevate his legs to get the blood flowing again.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you so much.” The EMTs left and Yuri was about to say something when Victor interrupted. “I would call your mom, she seemed very worried. I’m so glad you are okay. I’m going to get you water and heat up the food.” He kissed him on the cheek and got up to go to the kitchen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah hello mom, yes I’m fine, yes I just had a panic attack... I’ll be okay... I’ll figure it out… yeah it’s fine.. I love you mom… please take care of yourself until I get there… good bye.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor walked back with the water and insisted that Yuri stayed at least sitting on the carpet for a while until he felt good enough to get up. “What did your mom have to say? If you don’t mind sharing. It seemed important.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri took a big gulp of water and said “yeah, I have to go back to Japan as soon as possible. My dad had a heart attack. He is fine but they run a hot spring together and he can’t work for a few months. They will need to find a temporary hire so I am going to help my mom and sister out until they do. I also want to check up on them. I’m sure they were terrified.” Yuri let out a sigh, “I’m going to have to figure out what to do with work.. I’ll have to get all my shifts covered somehow.” He put his head into his hands, “and I’m going to have to buy a plane ticket and pack tonight.” Victor sat next to him and stroked his back. Yuri took a deep breath, “my mom didn’t tell me he was fine before I passed out so that was a huge relief to hear. I expected the worst because she sounded like she was crying.” He turned to look into Victor’s eyes, “thank you for taking care of me. Let’s go eat now though. I’ll worry about all of this again when I have food in my stomach.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sat together in silence, practically inhaling the food. Victor was the first to break the silence. “Do you need me to do anything for you? Do you know how long you will be gone?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri rushed to finish chewing and choked out, “I’ll just need a ride to the airport once I figure out when my flight will be. I hope I’ll only be gone for 1-2 weeks.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can drive you, it’s the least I can do..” Victor said with a weak but sympathetic smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri took a sip of water, “I’m not buying a return ticket though since I don’t really know how long I’ll be gone for.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I guess that makes sense..” they both got quiet again after that. Yuri got up and tried to do the dishes but Victor was very stubborn and persistent on Yuri sitting on the couch instead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the way to Yuri’s apartment he convinced Victor to come inside and stay a while, although it didn’t take much at all to convince him. When they got into the door he immediately took off his shoes, waited for Victor to do the same and then took his hand and pulled him into his room and dragged him onto the bed. He curled up next to Victor and let out a sigh of relief. He was glad to finally be home but there was so much he needed to do still. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God my whole body hurts.. I was already exhausted from working this morning and then I had to go and faint because of a panic attack. Ugh I could fall asleep right now. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Victor ran his fingers through Yuri’s hair and hummed softly. He could feel Yuri’s heart rate slowing just a little bit and decided to let him sleep. Once he was sure Yuri wouldn’t wake up if he got out of bed, he wiggled his way out and grabbed Yuri’s phone from his pocket. Yuri had given him the password a couple of days ago so he put it in and called Yuri’s mom. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After explaining the situation and getting all the information he needed he hung up and got to work. Yuri was out cold until the next day. He slowly started opening his eyes and then shot out of bed when he realized it was the next day already. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ahhh when did I fall asleep? I still have so much to do. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He smacked his face and whispered in a panicked tone, “I didn’t buy a plane ticket!” Victor had woken up from Yuri’s sudden movement and sleepily pulled him back into his arms. As much as Yuri wanted to stay and cuddle with him all day he had too much to do so he tried to free himself but the sleepy man just held on tighter. Yuri whined “Victoorrr, I had to get up. I need to pack and buy a plane ticket and figure out my work shifts.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s already done. Now come cuddle with me. We still have 5 hours left.” Even though he had his eyes closed he could imagine the stunned look on Yuri’s face right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri whipped his whole body around to face Victor to make sure he heard that correctly. “Wait, Victor. What do you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor opened his eyes to look at Yuri’s face, he was reacting how he expected. He let out a small laugh and closed his eyes again and pulled Yuri in closer. “While you were asleep I borrowed your phone, called your mom to figure out where to buy the ticket for, called your boss and coworkers and sorted out your shifts. I didn’t pack for you though since I didn’t know what you would want to bring. The flight isn’t for another 7 hours. It was the earliest one I could get unfortunately but at least now I get to be with you for 5 whole hours before we have to leave.” Victor kissed Yuri’s forehead. He didn’t respond back for a little bit so Victor opened his eyes only to see Yuri crying. “Aw, don’t cry Yuri..”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri wiped the tears out of his eyes and choked out “how can I not cry? You just did the nicest thing anyone has even done for me and I have to leave you for possibly two whole weeks. I was going to miss you anyway but now you are just making it that much harder.” He started sobbing again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor is not very good with crying people so he just pulled Yuri’s head into his shoulder and stroked his hair gently. Once it seemed like Yuri had calmed down he pulled away to look right into his eyes and say, “Yuri, I’m going to miss you so much too and this was the least I could do. I didn’t want you to have to worry about anything else. You already fainted so just relax now. Everything is fine.” Yuri’s hand rubbed the back of Victor’s neck lovingly, and he closed the distance between them and pulled him into a tender kiss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you Victor. Thank you so much more than I could ever express.” Yuri pulled him back in for another kiss. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It’s going to be interesting figuring out how their relationship handles this time apart. Also I couldn’t make this too tragic because I honestly needed this soft fanfic outlet after being emotionally devastated by banana fish.. </p><p>Also!! I haven’t edited the past three chapters but I will Saturday so hopefully there aren’t too many mistakes ahh</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Missing him</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yuri left for his flight to Japan and Victor is trying to find distractions to bide his time until Yuri gets back. This is Victor’s chapter, Yuri will get his next!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was harder to say goodbye to Yuri than Victor expected. He had gotten used to having the man around and wasn’t really sure how he was going to cope with the time apart. Victor had been surrounded by people all his life. He had acquaintances and some close friends but no one he really felt like he couldn’t stand to lose, besides Mila, he didn’t have anyone that really knew him. He got really good at putting on a charming smile and that made him popular. Yuri was able to see past all that and wanted to understand him. When they pulled away from their hug Victor could feel tears forming and Yuri was already sobbing, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said goodbye once again, standing on his toes to kiss Victor and then made his way through the security check-in. Victor stayed until he couldn’t see Yuri any longer and solemnly walked his way back through the airport to the parking garage. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Makkachin pounced on Victor as soon as he opened the door. He must have sensed that Victor wasn’t in the best mood because he gave him way more affection than usual, licking his face until it had a shine to it. “Alright alright Makka! Hahaha you can stop now.” He pushed the dog off so he could stand up again,  “I’m okay”, Makkachin stood back and let his tongue flop out of his mouth happily. Victor’s features softened and he reached out to give the dog some head pats before making his way upstairs. He didn't get a chance to take a shower at Yuri’s since he wanted to spend every free moment in his arms so he dragged his feet through his room to collect a fresh set of clothes and a towel and made his way into the bathroom. He decided to start with a shower but wanted to take a long bath after he was clean. Victor always took baths when he was sad, it felt nice being surrounded by the warmth and he was able to relax and forget about the world for a little while. He put on his favorite classical playlist and relaxed in the tub with some lavender bubble bath. He wasn’t sure how long he was in there for but his relaxed state was interrupted by the loud growl of his hungry stomach. Reluctantly, he reached over to drain the tub and started drying off. He pulled on his sweatpants and the hoodie Yuri let him borrow. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After he finished the dishes he decided to take Makkachin on a walk. Usually Victor would just walk around the neighborhood sidewalks but he decided to take his dog to the dog park today. It was pretty far from his house so he never had time. The trees hovered over the street with ghostly limbs and creaked in the wind. Snow fell lightly onto the ground slowly building a blanket of white over the cars, sidewalks, and lawns. Everything felt quiet and still, like the world was put on pause for a moment but as they got closer to the dog park you could hear faint barks and whistles from dogs and owners. Once they were inside the gates Makkachin looked up at Victor asking for permission to run freely and he nodded in response. A moment later Makka was running in circles around the other dogs, rolling in the grass and biting the air to try to catch the falling snow. Victor couldn’t help but giggle at the very energetic and innocent dog. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was getting close to sunset when they finally arrived home, Victor gave Makkachin his dinner and headed out to close the bookstore. Usually he wouldn’t check out the books his staff selected from the many boxes of books people tried to sell until the end of the week since that is when they are put on the shelves but he needed a good distraction. Once he was finished counting the drawers and said goodbye to his staff, he set up a stack of books to look through to see if he found anything interesting. Victor liked to look through each book before shelving it. He would take his favorite ones and set them up on a display near the front. Most of the books in this case however were mostly medical textbooks. It wasn’t until he reached the bottom that he found something that piqued his interest. It was a copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Victor remembered Yuri saying it was his favorite book so he decided to put it aside for his newest display. He let out a sigh and started cleaning up the small mess he made and headed back home. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Once again Makkachin was there to greet him, although he was less enthusiastic since the walk took out a lot of his energy. He was still very excited to see his owner nonetheless. Victor ate some leftover pasta and retreated upstairs to his music room. He didn’t realize how exciting Yuri made his life. Victor was honestly getting very restless without him around and was having trouble finding things to occupy his time. Even if he wasn’t really in the mood to do anything he forced himself to practice violin. He started with Violin Sonata, Op. 34 by Amy Beach. Victor would record the piano accompaniment ahead of time so he could play in time with the violin to get a feel for how it will sound in concert. Victor’s pianist would practice to his recording of the violin as well until they could meet in person to practice together. The way his body feels when he puts bow to string is like being kissed by the clouds. He would close his eyes and let the sway of his arms flow sweetly and softly through the notes. This particular song was full of passion and longing. It felt like falling in love in the springtime. Full of love, hope, sun rays and tall trees casting shadows over fields of flowers with bumble bees. Soft kisses with a lover that taste like strawberries and tea. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I should play this for Yuri when he gets back. I think he would love it.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It wasn’t until 11pm that Victor finally settled into bed. He still had another day before Yuri would be in Japan. He promised to call as soon as he could and Victor promised to be there to answer no matter the time. He turned to his side and stared at the wall then the empty space in his bed wishing Yuri was there to fill it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This is going to be a long week.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Flight to Japan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yuri hates flying but he was excited to see his family again</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yuri spent most of his time waiting in the tsa line and only had 30 minutes to get something to drink before his flight began boarding. He decided to get an iced herbal tea because although he usually couldn’t sleep on flights, he was going to try. Victor somehow managed to get Yuri a window seat which was his favorite because he loved looking out at the sky when they were in the clouds. He realized once the flight attendants started explaining the safety rules and regulations that he was also lucky enough to get only one seat neighbor and they also realized this and had moved over to the aisle seat, leaving one seat empty in between them. The first hour of the flight was always the worst for Yuri, he generally did fine on planes but anytime there was turbulence his heart would beat out of his chest and it took a while to calm down again. He opted for listening to music to distract himself. Victor made Yuri a playlist before he left of all his favorite classical songs and he found himself slowly relaxing to the heavenly hums of violin and piano. Amazingly Yuri managed to get in a nap before he was woken up by the flight attendants who were serving the first meal of the trip. He scarfed down the meal of miso soup, steamed rice, pickled radish, and Japanese curry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a couple of hours on the flight, the music was doing very little to ease Yuri’s racing mind. He decided to journal for a while to try and sort through his rapid thoughts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>11/17: </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My body is exhausted but my mind is racing. I always have trouble falling asleep on airplanes but I’ve never felt like this. It’s the type of anxiety that makes you want to crawl out of your skin for a while. It’s taking everything in me to stay calm and collected but I really wish I could close my eyes and end up in my parents hot spring already. I really miss Victor… I didn’t think I could miss someone this much. Being alone feels weird now when before it was normal. I loved being alone. But with Victor I find myself feeling warm and cared for. I wonder if he feels the same way. I still can’t believe that someone as beautiful and talented as him would be interested in me. He has reassured me many many times that he is the lucky one but I have a hard time believing in that. I’ve always had self esteem issues which stem from my anxiety. My therapist says that I am really hard on myself and I should treat myself how I treat others. If anyone else said the things I say to myself to themselves I would validate them and remind them how wonderful they are but for some reason I don’t think I deserve the same… </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri sat with that thought for a little letting it wander onto Victor and how much happier life is with him in it. Then inspiration struck and Yuri started writing furiously in his notebook again, a poem. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My life has evolved in many ways</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Like sugar dissolves into water</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You bring sweetness to my life</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Everything I once knew as essential has become the highlight of my day</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Your smile warms my soul with it heart shaped curvature </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The way you manage to lighten up the road I have to take </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’ve learned to love all my mistakes </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Before you I didn’t understand the weight of being in love</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How heavy it feels to hold someone else’s heart in your arms and kiss it til the hardened case starts to melt away</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My heart was wrapped up in broken glass and duct tape</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You gently pulled away the broken shards of my fragile feelings and glued them back together so they could start healing</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you my love for taking care of me</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For holding me with gentle hands and rocking me to sleep</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No matter how far away we roam our love with never fade</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Because I know with you the bond we share is like the moon and the sun.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Feeling satisfied with releasing all the thoughts trapped in his mind Yuri switched to reading instead. He brought a couple of books in case he was in a certain mood for a particular genre. He chose to finish The Lover since he was missing Victor and wanted to feel connected to him somehow, despite being so far away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the flight went by much quicker after Yuri managed to ease his anxiety. He was excited to see his family again. It had been a few months since they last saw each other and he wasn’t planning on coming back until the new year. Minako, his mom's childhood friend and his old ballet teacher, was waiting for him at the airport. Usually she would be at the train station since it was another hour via train to get to his hometown. As soon as she noticed Yuri walking up she screamed and ran up to hug him. Even though she was old enough to be his mother she was still a ballerina and was light as a feather. So when she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Yuri’s neck he didn’t fall over completely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Minako-sensei, I missed you too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahh Yuri, I’m so glad you are here. It’s been really boring without you. Plus you know I don’t do well with all this serious life stuff. I need you to take over consoling your mother.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, I will… uh but can you let go? I can’t breathe”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Minako stepped away, pinched his cheek and turned back to the direction of the train. “Let’s go! You must be exhausted.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The trip back to Hasetsu was filled with exhausted yet excited anticipation. Thankfully his dad was okay or this would be a more morbid and daunting trip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri led the way inside and called out to his parents. His mother ran out from the kitchen to greet him with the biggest hug he has ever received from her in his life. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She must be taking this really hard.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “Where is dad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She pulled away to say, “he is upstairs in our bedroom. Why don’t you go put your stuff away and I’ll fix you something to eat? You can go see your father while you are up there.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaned down to kiss her cheek, said thank you, and made his way upstairs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His parents left his bedroom the way it was when he left for college all those years ago. When he was in school he was obsessed with this musical artist named 雪陽 (Yukiharu) who looked awfully similar to Victor, with long silver hair. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I guess I do have a type huh?</span>
  </em>
  <span> His posters were still plastered on his walls along with some American classic movie posters like Psycho and Blue Velvet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri knocked on his parents door and when he heard a reply he slid it open to see his dad laying in bed with a book in hand. He looked exhausted but otherwise okay. “How are you feeling dad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been better. Thank you for coming out to help your mother. She was worried sick about everything I thought she might have a heart attack next.” He chuckled to himself and asked Yuri, “how was the flight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was fine, I did a lot of reading because I couldn’t sleep so I’m pretty tired. But mom insisted on making me food before I went to sleep.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That sounds about right. Well I won’t keep you any longer. We can talk tomorrow. Thank you son.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re welcome dad. Good night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His mom made him some miso soup with grilled fish, rice and pickled cucumber. It was around 12am so it was a good amount of food to eat so late at night. Yuri remembered halfway through eating that he still needed to call Victor and he quickly finished his meal, did the dishes and quickly but quietly ran upstairs. It was around 1am when Yuri FaceTimed Victor so he put headphones in and tried to be as quiet as possible to not disturb his parents. Victor answered almost immediately seeing how it was around 12pm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Victor’s face lit up as soon as he saw Yuri on the other end of the call and Yuri’s stomach filled with butterflies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello Yuri! I miss you so much. How was the flight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was okay, I miss you too. I didn’t sleep at all so I spent most of the time writing and reading. I finally finished The Lover. I really enjoyed it! I would love some other recommendations from you. I do have about 10 other books in the queue though haha.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah Yuri you need to get to sleep. Although I want to keep talking to you… I’m conflicted! Anyway, I’m glad you liked the book. I have so many more I can give you too. Reading is kind of a passion of mine if you didn’t know.” Victor winked and Yuri giggled softly like a child. This made Victor start laughing because of how cute Yuri’s reaction was and soon the two fell into a conversation about their day and how Victor found a copy of Yuri’s favorite book and Yuri told Victor about the poem he wrote and assured him his dad was alright. Yuri was the first to fall asleep, he tried his best to stay awake but as soon as he said he was going to just lay down to get more comfortable he passed out. Victor stayed on the call just watching and listening to Yuri sleep. He realized he slept better with him around. Victor couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer so he reluctantly ended the call and sent Yuri a message saying goodnight and that he missed him so much and that they would talk tomorrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>雪陽 (Yukiharu) means snowy sun. This is not a real musician to my knowledge.. I just like the name and wanted a person Yuri was obsessed with that resembled Victor since Victor isn’t that famous in this au fanfic</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. FaceTime</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor and Yuri are trying to cope with the distance and different time zones. They FaceTime and things get a little ~heated~</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Being in different time zones was difficult. They could still message each other but the responses were sporadic. It was only at night that they were able to FaceTime each other and in order to do that Victor had to make sure someone was there to run the shop during the day. It usually wasn’t an issue but today the person who usually works 8-4 called in sick so he had to cover the shift. He was getting restless from lack of contact with Yuri. Some of his employees started to notice but didn’t say anything. He got tired of standing around waiting so he took it upon himself to go through and dust the entire store, straighten out each book, and get caught up on some paperwork he had been meaning to do. He still had a couple of hours left so he decided to read an Agatha Christie book since Yuri loves them so much. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri woke up to find a collection of text messages from Victor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>good morning Yuri~ I miss you</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor:</b>
  <span> I have to work today and I’m already so bored! </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>*contemplates buying plane ticket to japan* (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Victor: </b>
  <span>I just finished And Then There Were None. It was so good!! Also I’m finally done with work and I’m about to eat dinner. I wish you were here to help me eat all of this… I made way too much \(&gt;u&lt;)/</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri laughed a little to himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God I love this man.</span>
  </em>
  <span> His eyes went wide at that thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Did I really just admit that I love Victor? Oh no I can’t already be in love right?? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He sat with those thoughts for a second. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Crap, I am so in love.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The light of Victor’s phone turned on and illuminated the otherwise pretty dark room. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yuri Katsuki 💕 would like to FaceTime </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He quickly shot out of bed to unplug his phone, fixed his hair, and answered the call. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why hello handsome~ I miss you so so much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello to you too, I miss you a lot. I’m sorry the time difference is so drastic. I feel like we haven’t talked very much.” Yuri looked at the screen with sad eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How is your family? Is your dad still trying to work? I remember you saying how you caught him in the supply closet looking for a broom haha.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, after my mom found out she got so mad he is kind of scared to even go downstairs now but on the bright side I think they found a replacement for me!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor’s eyes lit up, “really?! That is fantastic. I am going a little crazy without you here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah me too…” he sighed, “the guy they are thinking of hiring is a student. He seems nice enough. I’m going to ask my mom later today when I should buy my plane ticket for. I’m hoping I will be able to leave in a couple of days. What have you been up to?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me know what time you will arrive so I can pick you up. And I’ve been mostly working and practicing violin but I did stop by the coffee shop a few times and since Chris is covering most of your shifts I’ve been seeing him a lot lately. He is pretty cool. We are supposed to hang out on Saturday actually. I found out that we both were planning on going to this classic horror movie showing of Psycho and The Thing. I am glad I don’t have to go alone now. I was hoping I could drag you along with me even though I know you hate scary movies. I had this whole plan to seduce you into it. By that I mean I was going to get on my knees and beg and also buy you all the snacks you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri’s face went red at the thought of Victor doing that… he zoned out for a little bit but cleared his throat and tried to steer his mind away from those thoughts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor smirked at the obviously overwhelmed Yuri and said, “what were you thinking about just now Yuri~?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing nothing. Don’t worry about it” his voice cracked a little bit at the end which caused Victor to burst out laughing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are too cute Yuri. I can’t wait to squeeze your cute little cheeks too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly feeling very bold and very much done with Victor’s teasing Yuri lifted the microphone on his earbuds closer to his mouth so he could whisper “you can do more with this ass than just squeeze it when I get back.” He licked his lips and waited for Victor’s turn to get flustered. Oh boy was he flustered… his face had turned a deep shade of pink and had embarrassingly gotten a little too excited by the thought. His mouth wasn’t able to form words and his brain temporarily shut down. Yuri could see how easily he turned the man into a mess and felt pretty proud of himself. In a playfully sarcastic tone, Yuri said, “You got quiet, are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor’s voice went up an entire octave, “um yep. I’m totally fine.” He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I might need to buy a plane ticket right now. No particular reason… I just have a hot guy I need to see immediately.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri let out a chuckle, “don’t worry Vitya. I’ll be back soon. Then you can do whatever you want.” To drive Victor into further insanity he blew a kiss to the camera. This caused Victor to fully shut down. “I do have to go now though. It’s already 10am here and I’m supposed to help set up for lunch. I’ll FaceTime you when I’m going to sleep later though. Then you’ll have my undivided attention so we can finish this conversation.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor pouted and mumbled “ah okay, I guess I should go to bed too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow for me at least.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talk to you later. Bye!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bye!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri got dressed for the day and made his way downstairs. Thankfully he had a lot to do today to keep his mind occupied until later tonight. He was supposed to train the new person who should be arriving in the next hour. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hopefully this means I’ll get to leave in 2 days if training goes well today. The job isn’t really that hard. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He fixed his hair and made his way downstairs to help his mother get ready for the afternoon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile Victor was laying in bed trying to calm down his beating heart. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God that man knows exactly which buttons to push to drive me insane. He isn’t even here and yet I’m still so fucking turned on. I can’t wait until tomorrow. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He took care of his unexpected predicament and fell into a deep sleep. </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am still not sure if I want to make this any more ~spicy~ than it already is. I hope y’all like this chapter anyway. Yuri will be back soon so I feel like the reunion needs to be intense ! </p><p>Also sorry I haven’t edited any of these chapters but once I get to chapter 15 I will go back and fix any errors. If there is anything major I need to fix please let me know &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Time Zones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sorry I’m so bad at coming up with chapter names ahhh.<br/>Also I don’t know why I thought I would be a good idea to have them in two different time zones. I’ve been so confused the entire time and had to triple check to make sure I wasn’t messing that up..<br/>I don’t want to spoil too much but there is some drama in this chapter.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning!!! Someone drunkenly harasses another character and tries to kiss them without their consent!</p><p>Moi sladkiy - my sweetness </p><p>Lyubimiy - my love / darling</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Around 10 am Victor got a FaceTime request from a Yuri. He had already been up for a couple of hours and was in the kitchen eating the last bit of breakfast on his plate. </p><p>“Hello Yuri! How are you moi sladkiy~”</p><p>“I’m good. How are you?”</p><p>“Yuri… you don’t seem good. Are you sure you’re okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, um... It looks like you are in the dining room.”</p><p>“I am, I just finished eating when you called me. And Yuri, I wish you would tell me what happened. I want you to feel comfortable to share anything you want with me. So please vent away lyubimiy” </p><p>Yuri took in a deep breath to calm his nerves and tried to figure out how to even begin the conversation. With a long sigh he said, “I was supposed to train the new hire today and at first it was going really well. He already knew how to do a lot of the things I was teaching him. But when I was going over how to clean the bath he started getting weird...” Yuri gulped before beginning again, “I had to lean over to clean the tub and I swear I could feel him staring right at me…”</p><p>Victor grit his teeth but didn’t say anything. He wanted to hear Yuri out before jumping to conclusions. </p><p>“When we were done for the day he offered to take me out for dinner to say thank you for training him. I tried to refuse but my mom insisted.” He took another deep breath, “I was feeling really anxious so I thought drinking a little bit would calm my nerves and it did but he took the opportunity to drink as well.” Yuri scratched at his face nervously. “He drank way more than I did and as the dinner went on he kept getting more and more flirty… and clingy. It seemed innocent at first. He kept complimenting me saying I had nice hair and grabbed a strand of it… I tried to show how uncomfortable he was making me but I guess he was too drunk to get the hint. At one point I had to physically push him off of me because he tried to kiss me. That made him kinda mad and he called me a tease and I ran out of there crying.” Yuri hadn’t looked at his phone the entire time because he felt ashamed but he glanced up when Victor hadn’t said anything. Victor had his eyes closed and looked like he was trying to calm himself down. </p><p>“Yuri…” Victor said calmly. “I am so sorry you had to go through that. I wish I was there to comfort you.”</p><p>“I’m okay, I was shaken up for a little bit but I’m doing better now.” </p><p>“Still, you shouldn’t have to deal with this on your own. Did you tell your parents?”</p><p>“No, I probably won’t say anything unless he tries something again. Hopefully he will apologize when he is sober tomorrow. I’m sure he got the hint that I’m not interested after I nearly threw him on the ground tonight haha.”</p><p>“Hmm as long as you are okay with it. Maybe try and see if your sister can finish training him since you already went over how to clean the baths.”</p><p>“Yeah I just might do that. Anyway, how was your night? Did you sleep okay?”</p><p>Victor got a little red at the mention of his night, “it was good. Really good. I slept very deeply.”</p><p>“Hmm really? I didn’t keep you up last night after how we ended the call yesterday?” Yuri smiled innocently and watched as Victor’s face turned a darker shade of red. </p><p> </p><p>After they ended their call Victor couldn’t stop stewing on what Yuri told him. I can’t believe someone would do that to Yuri. Sure he has a cute, innocent sexiness to him but that doesn’t mean he deserves to be taken advantage of! Ah I am so mad. I want to go to Japan and give that guy a piece of my mind. He took a deep breath to try and calm down. No, I’m sure he feels bad about it now. I just want to see Yuri. It doesn’t feel right to be all the way over here when he went through something so traumatic. I can’t just take a surprise flight to Japan. It’s nearly 16 hours and I don’t even know how to get to his family's onsen from the airport. Ugh I wish there was something more I could do. He had to put on some peaceful piano music to ease his mind enough to sleep, although it wasn’t a very restful one. He was too worried about Yuri to really let himself rest. </p><p> </p><p>Yuri passed out after they ended the call. He had a physically and emotionally exhausting day. The next morning he had to go talk to his sister about training the new guy. Thankfully she was very understanding after explaining a little bit about what happened last night. When he came into work an hour later he apologized profusely to Yuri and promised to never disrespect his boundaries ever again. He also made a point to apologize to his sister for making her train him and apologized to Yuri’s mother for taking advantage of her son and their families kindness. Once that was sorted out Yuri did something a little spontaneous. </p><p> </p><p>Victor had not heard from Yuri since they said good morning/good night to each other but he assumed that he must have been busy with helping his family out. It was a little worrying that Yuri didn’t even mention if that guy apologized or not. But he tried his best to forget about it for now and focus on the day ahead. He had to stop by the shop to go through all the books from the past week since it was a Friday and he usually went through them on Saturday but was busy since he made plans with Chris that day. Victor was almost done when he realized it was already 4pm and he needed to start closing down the store. Once he said goodbye to his employees it was around 4:30pm so he decided to finish up with the box of books he was sorting through before making his way home. He was just about to put the lack stack of books away when he got a FaceTime request from Yuri. </p><p>“This is a pleasant surprise! What time is it there? It must be really early.” Victor looked at the background of the FaceTime call and his eyes went wide. “Wait, where are you right now Yuri?”</p><p>Yuri turned the camera around to show the group of people walking through the airport in front of him. </p><p>Victor nearly screamed, “What?! When are you going to get here? Ah I am so excited!” </p><p>“I’m already here Victor. Could come pick me up pleeeease.” He had turned the camera around and was making a fake pouting face and puppy dog eyes. Victor dropped everything he was doing and gave a quick goodbye to Yuri before running out to his car to call Mila. He asked her to watch over Maccachin for the night so he could pick up Yuri, she said yes of course, and he headed off to the airport.</p><p> </p><p>By the time Victor arrived Yuri had finally gotten his checked bag and was walking out to the pick up area when he spotted Victor’s car pulling up. He parked the car and ran out eyes locked onto Yuri. They were both weaving through the crowds of people trying to catch a taxi. When they finally reached each other they could hardly contain themselves. Yuri jumped right into Victor’s arms and started sobbing and Victor pressed kisses onto the man's head and cheeks. </p><p>Victor was the first one to break contact. “I missed you so much. Also I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were coming back! I’ve been a nervous wreck all day because you didn't message me yet.” He went in for another hug and whispered, “also we should probably get going before that cop puts a ticket on my car.”</p><p>This caused Yuri to push Victor away and start charging for the car. Victor laughed and tried to catch up to the very fast man. </p><p> </p><p>Once they were in the car Yuri let out a huge sigh and said “it’s good to be home.” He leaned over to kiss Victor and nuzzled his head into his shoulder and added, “come on, let’s go. I’m starving.” Victor pulled out and headed to Yuri’s apartment, happy to have him by his side again. Yuri called to order food for them so it would be ready when they arrived and leaned his head against the window. They hadn’t been inside for more than 5 minutes before Yuri got a text saying his delivery driver was here so he put his shoes back on to retrieve the food. He came back to find Victor in the kitchen pouring two glasses of wine. </p><p>“Thank you, that will go really well with the pizza I ordered.”</p><p>“I thought so, I hope it’s okay I opened this one.” He held up the bottle of wine Yuri was going to open the last time Victor was over. </p><p>“Yeah that’s great. I hope it’s good. I’ve honestly never tried it before.”</p><p>After the pizza was consumed and the wine bottle emptied they sat next to each other on the floor leaned up against the couch. Yuri’s head rested on Victor’s shoulder and he was running circles into Victor’s palm and humming softly to the record playing in the background. </p><p>Victor took in a deep breath and confessed, “I’ve missed you way more than I thought I could ever miss another person.”</p><p>Yuri lifted his head and looked into Victor’s swirling blue eyes. He made sure to keep eye contact and admitted, “I’ve missed you too. And I know I keep saying this but I want to cherish you forever.” </p><p>Victor leaned in and whispered, “me too”, then closed the distance between them with a loving kiss. They pulled away only to lock eyes again each burning with longing and Yuri glanced down at Victor’s wet soft pink lips. Victor could see the way Yuri swallowed hard and his breath hitched. He ran his fingers gently under Yuri’s chin, lifting it up so he had to look Victor in the eyes once more. He ran his thumb across Yuri’s lips. Unable to hold back any longer, Yuri pulled Victor in by his shirt collar and begged him for more. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Movie Date</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor, Yuri, Chris and Phichit go to the movies!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is pretty short and very fluffy. Not a whole lot happens it’s just a cute lil date. I’m going to upload the next chapter by Saturday and then I’m going back to edit so the 16th chapter won’t be up until next week :(<br/>I hope y’all like this so far. I’m thinking of ending it either at 20 chapters or before. This all depends on which of the two endings I end up choosing ~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Since Yuri was back early, Victor convinced him to go to the movie screening with him and Chris. They decided to invite Yuri’s friend Phichit so Chris wouldn’t feel like a third wheel. The theater wasn’t very crowded so they were able to get a good spot in one of the middle back rows and sat Victor, Yuri, Phichit, and Chris respectively. Victor and Yuri lifted up the arm rest so they could sit closer together and Yuri leaned into Victor’s shoulder which caused Victor release a content sigh and kiss Yuri’s forehead. Chris and Phichit have each other a look and snickered at the affectionate couple. Victor glanced over at the giggling pair and gave them both a glare and stuck out his tongue. This caused them to laugh even harder which garnered a few stares from the other movie watchers but thankfully the movie hadn’t actually started yet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>During the first movie Yuri practically clung onto Victor the entire time and every time Yuri jumped Phichit had to hold back his laughter. Yuri had always been way too scared of horror films, especially the ones with a lot of jump scares. There was a 30 minute break between films so the four of them decided to go get some popcorn and candy before the next movie started. Once they were out of the theater and heading towards the concession stand Phichit nudged Yuri and jokingly said, “are you going to be okay for this next movie? You seemed pretty scared haha.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri’s face got red and he pouted, “yes I’ll be fine. I just hate jump scares.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor wrapped his arm around Yuri and whispered, “don’t worry my love, I thought it was cute” as he gave him a gentle kiss on the top of his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chris insisted that him and Phichit share a bag of popcorn and he also bought him a box of sour candies. Victor and Yuri got a bag of popcorn and a lemonade to share. The four of them headed back into the theater and reclaimed their seats. There was still 10 minutes before the movie started so they talked amongst themselves. Victor on his phone checking on Mila and Makkachin so Yuri eavesdropped on Chris and Phichit bonding over their love for photography. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m happy they seem to be getting along. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He nuzzled into Victor’s shoulder and closed his eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri was woken up a few hours later and he found himself laying on Victor’s lap in the movie theater. He sat up and let out a big yawn and stretched out his arms. “Hmm, aw..did I miss the movie?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor laughed and ran his hands through Yuri’s messed up hair, “yeah you must have been tired. You slept through the whole thing and didn't even wake up when Chris screamed. Phichit and I burst out laughing and got a few glares and shushes from other people.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, I am just so sleepy. I really wanted to watch it with you.” Yuri mumbled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The group started making their way back to the car. Yuri took the passenger seat again and Victor gave him his scarf to use as a pillow until they got home. He looked into the rear view mirror to see Chris and Phichit whispering to each other and leaning in closer to share something on their phone. The ride home was rather quiet, the passengers were either asleep or quietly sitting on their phones. Since everyone met up at Yuri’s apartment Victor dropped them off there and Chris offered to drive Phichit home so he didn’t have to take the bus. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Victor went around to the passenger side door and tried very gently to lift Yuri out of the car so he could carry him up to his apartment. Yuri woke up from the sudden movement but when he realized that Victor had hoisted him up on his back he pretended to still be asleep and relaxed into Victor’s shoulders. Once they got inside Yuri “woke up” and took off his shoes before pulling Victor along by the hand into his bedroom. Somehow he managed to brush his teeth and Victor kept a watchful eye on him as he brushed his own. Yuri sleepily took off both of their coats and Victor helped Yuri get out of his pants and took off his own. Yuri wanted to keep his hoodie on so he crawled into bed once all the other layers were off and tried to keep his eyes open until Victor was ready to join him. Once they were both settled under the covers Yuri lifted himself up so he could lay on Victor’s chest and placed soft sensual kisses along Victor’s neck and shoulders. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm Yuri, as much as I want you to never stop kissing me like that I think we are both too tired to do anything tonight and if you keep going it will be very hard to sleep…. if you know what I mean.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri responded by leaving a few more kisses on Victor’s cheeks before resting his head on his chest and huffing out a breath. “Mm you are probably right.” He let out a yawn and whispered almost inaudibly, “I can’t wait until the morning. I’ve missed you so much. Good night</span>
  <em>
    <span> Victuru</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night my </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yuuri</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Victor replied and kissed Yuri’s head before falling asleep. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Confessing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yuri and Victor finally get the day alone together after being apart for a while. They share intimate moments, songs, and poems.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hmm what time is it?” Victor grumbled as he was woken up suddenly by Yuri leaving the bed. </p><p>“It’s 6am, I am still messed up from the time zone change, I’ve been awake for an hour already.”</p><p>Victor sleepily flung his arms out to try and pull Yuri back into bed but he was already up and heading towards the bathroom. “Mm come back Yuurri.” </p><p>Yuri poked his head out of the bathroom and replied, “I’m going to shower so if you want to join me you better hurry up.” </p><p>Victor jolted out of bed throwing the blankets on the floor and started speed walking into the bathroom. Yuri giggled at Victor’s sudden burst of energy and spun around to turn on the water. Victor started peeling off the small amount of clothing he still had on and was entirely naked by the time he got to the door. He locked eyes with Yuri and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. </p><p>“Come on Victor, the water should be ready by now.” He grabbed Victor’s hips and pulled him blindly into the shower since neither of them could pull away from the other. It took some effort but they managed to make it in without falling over. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>Victor’s hand roamed the soft curves of Yuri’s back and he brushed his hips causing Yuri to shiver at the touch. The warm water washed over their bodies as they held onto each other like they would float away if they let go.</p><p> </p><p>They finished their shower and now that they were both very awake they decided to get some breakfast and headed out the door. </p><p> </p><p>They ended up at a 24 hour diner just outside of the city to eat some breakfast. Yuri got pancakes with a side of potatoes and Victor got an omelette with a side salad. There were too many people at the diner so they were able to be more affectionate and not feel uncomfortable. Yuri had his foot hooked around Victor’s under the table. </p><p>“Oh Yuri, when we are done eating I have to take Makkachin for a walk if you want to join us?”</p><p>Yuri’s eyes lit up, “of course I want to go!”</p><p>“Perfect. Also I have something to share with you after that. I’ve been working on a thing while you were away and I think I’m ready to show you.”</p><p>“Oh now I really can’t wait.”</p><p> </p><p>They walked around the cold empty streets of Victor’s neighborhood holding hands. People started putting up Christmas lights and lawn decorations so they walked around pointing to the houses they liked the best. Once they got back Victor fed Makkachin and pulled Yuri upstairs to his music room. </p><p>“I’ve been practicing this song that I think you are really going to like. I had my pianist send me a recording so I could play it while I did the violin parts.”</p><p> Victor starts playing </p><p>“What did you think?”</p><p>Yuri didn’t say anything, he just walked over to Victor, took his violin and placed it gently into the case. He wrapped his fingers around the collar of his shirt and lifted his gaze into Victor’s. Yuri then pulled Victor in closer, licking his lips as his eyes lowered down to Victor’s mouth. He closed the distance between them and melted into Victor’s soft lips. </p><p>“That was beautiful.” Yuri managed to get out once he pulled away from Victor. They stayed close together in the music room listening to each other’s heart beat and breathe until Yuri shot his head up away from Victor’s chest and exclaimed, “ah! I forgot I wrote a poem about you on the plane. I wanted to share it with you last night but I was so tired.” He pulled out his phone before remembering that he wrote it in his notebook. “Oh no, I forgot I wrote it in my notebook which is in my apartment right now… I’ll have to read it to you later then.” </p><p> </p><p>They hung out at Victor’s house for most of the day. Victor played a few more violin pieces while Yuri sang along quietly. They read together in silence for a little while, sharing what crazy thing they just read and explaining their favorite parts. Once it was dinner time they decided it was probably a good idea to go get food and stop by Yuri’s apartment to pick up some clothes before they came back to Victor’s to spend the night. </p><p> </p><p>“Hang on, I just need to find my notebook and then I’m ready to go.” Yuri dug through the bags he had yet to unpack and retrieved the notebook. “Okay, I’m ready now.” Even though they had been seeing each other for a while now Yuri was still incredibly nervous to share his feelings with Victor. God why did I tell him about this poem? Now I’m going to have to read it to him too. What if he doesn’t like it?... wait, what if I’m reading more into this relationship than he is. I mean we haven’t exactly defined what this is yet. But he did buy me a plane ticket. Ah that doesn’t mean anything though right? How could he possibly like me in that way? He could have anyone he wants. I’m just an awkward anxious barista who can’t seem to write something worthy of publishing. Victor is perfect…</p><p>“Yuri”.... “Yuri..” Victor cleared his throat and said a little louder, “Yuri!”</p><p>He jumped in his seat and turned to the left to see they were parked in Victor’s neighborhood already. </p><p>“Yuri, are you okay? You didn’t say anything the whole way here.” Victor reached his hand out to caress Yuri’s face and looked into his eyes lovingly. This put Yuri over the edge and he started bawling. “Oh Yuri… it’s alright, let it out. I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk about it.” He leaned in and pulled Yuri’s head towards his shoulder, stroking the man's back. </p><p>Once Yuri was able to calm down enough to speak he took a deep breath and asked Victor, “how do you feel about me? What is this thing we are doing?” It took everything in him not to cringe at the desperation in his voice. </p><p>I can’t believe he doesn’t know. “Yuri, look at me.” He slowly lifted his head so until they locked eyes. “You are the most important person in my life. You might not know this but you saved me. I felt like I was being weighed down by the expectations in my life and I lost the spark and passion I once had for living. Just one look at you and I knew you were going to start a fire in my heart and pull me out of the hole I found myself in. I love everything about you. I know you doubt yourself a lot but always know as long as you are doing what you love, I will love everything you do.” Victor’s face got a little red before he said, “I want you to be my boyfriend, my lover, my friend, my everything. I never want to leave your side. I’m with you, forever.” </p><p> </p><p>Yuri didn’t quite know what to say. He couldn’t believe the confession that Victor just made. He just stared at the man for a moment taking in the way his eyes swirled like whirlpools and how his cheeks turned pink. He took hold of Victor’s shoulders, pulling him into a loving embrace. “I’ll never leave you. I need you too much. I love you Victor.” Now both of them were crying and Victor replied, “I love you too.”</p><p>Yuri kissed Victor’s cheek and moved away to grab his notebook. “I am ready to share my poem with you now.”</p><p> </p><p>My life has evolved in many ways</p><p>Like sugar dissolves into water</p><p>You bring sweetness to my life</p><p>Everything I once knew as essential has become the highlight of my day</p><p>Your smile warms my soul with it heart shaped curvature </p><p>The way you manage to lighten up the road I have to take </p><p>I’ve learned to love all my mistakes </p><p>Before you I didn’t understand the weight of being in love</p><p>How heavy it feels to hold someone else’s heart in your arms and kiss it til the hardened case starts to melt away</p><p>My heart was wrapped up in broken glass and duct tape</p><p>You gently pulled away the broken shards of my fragile feelings and glued them back together so they could start healing</p><p>Thank you my love for taking care of me</p><p>For holding me with gentle hands and rocking me to sleep</p><p>No matter how far away we roam our love with never fade</p><p>Because I know with you the bond we share is like the moon and the sun, the night and the day.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Christmas Market</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor and Yuri go to the Christmas market. They eat and drink wine then decide to ice skate for a little while to end the night.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wish we had Christmas Markets in the US! I went to a couple of them in Germany and France and I thought about how it would be a perfect date spot. </p><p>I am ending this story in 2 chapters. I hope everyone has liked this story. I plan on writing more but I think I have told this story to the best of my ability and I simply can’t think of anything else to write in this au haha</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The street parallel to the coffee shop was closed off from traffic for the Christmas market. The cobble stone street was lined with various vendors with hot wine, crepes, sausages, and an assortment of homemade gift shops. Victor and Yuri were walking hand in hand through the small crowd of families and couples. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, laughing and sharing stories with wine in hand, admiring the atmosphere and decorations. Lights were strung across the tops of the vendors awning. Handmade paper snowflakes were hung from trees and street lights were wrapped in pine garlands and white lights. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All of a sudden Victor was being pulled out of the crowd walking down the street and into a small booth. “Wow! Victor look at this!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The vendor had a display of charcoal and ink drawings of couples and families. There was a bench with an art easel in front of it for the artist to sit and draw whoever was willing to pay and sit for the duration of the drawing process. “We should get one together.” Yuri’s eyes lit up and Victor obviously couldn’t say no to that cute face so they ended up sitting for about 40 minutes and it was worth it. They settled on posing close together with Yuri’s head on Victor’s shoulder and his arms wrapped around Victor. Yuri closed his eyes and looked peaceful while Victor looked down at him with loving eyes. The artist was able to capture that moment beautifully with exaggerated lines and shadowing the couple in such a way that it looked like they were glowing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow this is beautiful. Thank you so much!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The quiet artist said thank you, Yuri paid, and they walked off with their carefully wrapped art piece. He put it in his canvas bag and then turned around to hug Victor. “Thank you for doing that with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was my pleasure Yuri.” He kissed his forehead. “Now, let’s go get some food and wine. I’m getting hungry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The couple looped around to find the small dining area near the ice skating rink. The city set up the ice skating rink in a parking lot and there were several benches for communal style dining and a couple of small round tables for two. Yuri and Victor sat at one of the vacant double tables and Victor went over to get their food. They shared a pretzel, sausage pastry, and candied pecans. Victor was hand feeding Yuri the pecans when he suggested they go ice skating later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah that sounds good. I love ice skating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perfect! I get to show off a little now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you are going to be the one that is impressed by my skills Victor. Don’t you worry.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like this sudden confidence from you, Yuri. I want you to seduce on that ice rink.” Victor gave him a wink and held up more food to his mouth before Yuri could reply.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Since it was the middle of the Christmas market season the ice was not in the best condition. Although they were still able to glide around on it without hitting too many bumps. When Victor suggested they skate together he definitely didn’t expect Yuri to be this good. Thankfully there weren’t too many people on the ice at that time so the normally shy and anxious man could do spins and simple jumps. He turned around to face Victor and skated backwards putting all his trust into Victor to keep them from colliding with the other skaters. It felt like it was just the two of them on that ice. Victor had to hold back from pulling him into a kiss right in the middle of the outdoor rink and settled for kissing the tips of his fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are really good at ice skating Yuri. I honestly didn’t expect this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahaha yeah, I’ve been ice skating since I was a kid. It’s the one place I feel completely calm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel the same way. My favorite thing to do besides play violin is to ice skate. It’s so freeing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I still have yet to see what you can do Victor.” Yuri poked his chest in a teasing way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, alright. Get ready to be dazzled” he wiggled his fingers in front of Yuri’s face and giggled. Victor pulled away from Yuri and picked up speed, he curved around the rink with ease and lifted his leg up for a half Biellmann spin then lowered it down and did a double flip jump gliding around the edge of the rink at an angle. He swung his hips from side to side as he did cross rolls back to Yuri. Victor then slowed down and extended his hand to Yuri. He grabbed Yuri’s hand and spun him around a couple of times before slowly dipping him back towards the ice. Yuri’s hand held tightly to Victor’s shoulders and he was pulled back up into a kiss. They were both so lost in each other that they didn’t notice the crowd forming around them until the sound of applause broke the intimate moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh wow, I didn’t even see all these people before. You were really good Victor. I’m seriously convinced you are a level above humans because no one can be this perfect.” Yuri pressed a kiss into Victor’s cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could say the same about you! You seduced me with the way you casually did laps around me and those spins! I had to give everything I had just to show off for you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you made it look so easy and I’m not that flexible.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s something I can fix. I would be happy to help you stretch yourself out.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri’s face got incredible red and he whispered “Victoorrr.. there are people around” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor laughed it off and hooked his arm in Yuri’s as they made their way off the ice. “Come on my dear. I need more wine and then we can head home.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The walk back to Yuri’s apartment was calm and quiet. It was pretty late so there weren’t any cars out on the road and snow fell, gently coating the sidewalks and parked cars. Yuri snuzzled his head into Victor’s arm and sighed. “I had a lot of fun today.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm me too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your birthday is coming up soon. Is there anything you wanted to do?” Yuri looked up towards Victor who kept his eyes on the road ahead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just want to spend the day with you. I never really make that big of a deal out of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I’ll think of something simple we can do together then.” He paused causing Victor to stop too and he gave him a warm and passionate kiss. “Now let’s go home.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Victor’s Birthday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yuri spends all day with Victor to celebrate his birthday.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the second to last chapter. I am still in the middle of writing the ending so it won’t be uploaded just yet. Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback. I really appreciate it. I plan on writing again too because I didn’t know it could be this fun.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Victor rolled over to find the other side of his bed was empty. “Mm Yuri, where are you?” There was no reply so he opened his eyes and scanned the room. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hmm I wonder where he went</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh you’re up! Happy birthday Victor!” Yuri wiped off his hands on a nearby towel and ran over to give the sleepy man a big hug. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mm thank you Yuri” he rubbed his eyes and took a look around the kitchen. “What are you making? It smells really good.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuri pulled Victor over to the stove to show him the syrniki he was making. There was already a small stack of them on a plate next to the stove and they had the perfect golden color and were very thick but bouncy in texture like a good syrniki should be. “I looked up a recipe for this. I wasn’t sure if you ate it at all but it sounded tasty.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love syrniki! Thank you Yuri.” He kissed his cheek and creeped around to hug him from behind so he could watch Yuri continue to cook him breakfast. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m also making roasted potatoes and bacon. Those are in the oven right now.” He flipped the pancakes and said, “oh I also made coffee, it’s in the chemex on the table.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are too good to me.” He nuzzled his chin into Yuri’s shoulder and sighed, “I can already tell today is going to be a good day. Thank you Yuri.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re welcome Vitya. Now go get some coffee, I’ll bring out the food in a couple minutes. Yuri kissed Victor and lightly tapped on his backside to hurry the man along. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow! This is amazing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, I’m glad you like it. I was kind of worried they were going to taste horrible and nothing is open today so it would have been a disaster.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Haha you are so dramatic my love.” Victor teased. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, you are dramatic too.” Yuri crossed his arms and pouted in a very exaggerated way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes and you love me for it.” He stuck out his tongue.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuri blushed and replied, “yeah well so do you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh I’m not denying that. I love everything you do my dear.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuri got quiet, he pushed his chair out and walked around the square table to Victor’s chair and motioned for him to move his chair out which he obliged although he wasn’t really sure why. That is until Yuri climbed into his lap and straddled him. He pressed their foreheads together and wrapped his arms around Victor’s neck. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please don’t ever leave my side.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Victor replied, then they both hugged a little tighter and licked their lips before melting into a kiss. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They spent most of the day in bed watching Victor’s favorite old movies and drinking mulled wine. Yuri excused himself to go make dinner and told Victor to keep watching the movie since there was 40 minutes left. After dinner they took Makkachin for a walk around the neighborhood and Yuri led them to a part of the park near Victor’s house that he didn’t really go to. Once they got closer Victor could see fairy lights strung across a few trees and a blanket. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is this Yuri?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll see.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were a couple of blankets on the ground, a bouquet of red roses, a thermos with two mugs, and a small box in the middle of a circle of small pine trees wrapped up in fairy lights. Yuri lifted up the thicker of the two blankets, sat down, and motioned for Victor to do the same. Him and Makkachin both crawled across the blanket and settled next to Yuri who spread the other blanket across all of them. Then he turned to hand Victor a mug and filled it with the contents of the thermos which turned out to be hot spiced tea. Once they both had their drinks portioned out Yuri took a sip and reached over to grab the box that was at the end of the blanket pile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is for you. I hope you like it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did you have time to do all of this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I snuck out while I was making dinner. I wanted it to be a surprise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are truly amazing.” Victor leaned over to kiss his cheek then carefully unwrapped the gift and lifted the flaps of the small box open to reveal what was inside. He gasped at the sight of it and looked back up at Yuri and muttered, “Yuri, this is beautiful.” He lifted it up to get a better look at it and held it closer to the string lights to his right. It looked handmade, painted with a glossy black glaze with speckles of gold flakes, and seemed to be made of clay. It was a shallow bowl with a scalloped edge, the gold flakes looked like stars when he brought it up to the light and he could see swirls of dark blue and purple mixed into the jet black glossy glaze. Yuri interrupted Victor’s thoughts to say, “there is something else in there too.” He quickly set the bowl side on the blanket in his lap and inspected the box again. He pulled out a black envelope and another small box. He looked at Yuri curiously who simply smiled and gestured for Victor to open it. Inside the envelope was a poem and a handwritten note. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Happy birthday Victor, I hope I was able to make it a good one. I am so grateful to have you in my life. You inspire me, comfort me, support me in a way I didn’t know was possible. Thank you for everything you do.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>-Yuuri </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>(</span>
  </em>
  <span>The poem)</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You are the sun peaking out on a cloudy day, the first chord, the guitar riff, floating in calm water.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You are the breath of sharp, cool air and the smell of fresh grass, earthy mist, and lemon. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You are the sun as it peaks out for a moment to kiss my face and I grin.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I want to kiss every crack and crease in your skin</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I want to burn the biology of you in my memory</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I want to cherish every movement and word you speak as if I need them to breath</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Loving you comes easy</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>My lovely living daydream </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Loving you is pure bliss</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Yuri sat quietly as Victor read the note and poem. He could see the man tearing up so he placed his hand on his thigh to comfort him. Victor then opened the small box, inside was a ring with silver and gold metal intertwined like two snakes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When I saw this I immediately thought of you and I know you like wearing rings so I’m hoping it fits.” Victor tried it on and it fit perfectly on his ring finger</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This looks great. Thank you Yuri.” He took Yuri’s hand in his and kissed his finger tips. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They stayed in the park for a little while longer stargazing and cuddling under the blankets with Makkachin. Yuri started dozing off so Victor started packing up all of the stuff and woke Yuri up so they could head home.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. The Next Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Victor and Yuri make big plans. Their relationship grows over the next few months.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the end. I didn’t think I would ever write anything like this but it was fun. Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos. It really means so much to me that people like this. I’m sorry I’m so bad at editing though haha. I hope some of y’all read the next thing I write :-)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next morning Yuri woke up in an empty bed. He wandered downstairs to find Victor walking inside with a bag and two coffees in his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning Yuri! I got us some coffee and I hope you like bagel sandwiches. I got them without cheese so don’t worry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm thank you. I do like those. What kind of coffee did you get?” Yuri said sleepily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just black dark roast for you and mine has cream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri yawned and mumbled, “Sounds great. I’m sorry I fell asleep so quickly last night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor smiled and said, “It’s alright, I had such a wonderful time with you. It really was everything I could have hoped for.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they were done with their breakfast Victor snuck off to grab something. He returned a few moments later with a bag and handed it to Yuri. “Here is your Christmas gift.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? You didn’t have to do that?” Yuri waved his hands in front of him frantically. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I wanted to. I was going to give it to you yesterday but I didn’t want to overshadow whatever plans you had for us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah well thank you.” Yuri reluctantly took the gift and after Victor signaled for him to open it right away he began lifting up the tissue paper and pulled out the first thing. It was a moleskine notebook and there was a note on the inside. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Dear Yuri, </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you for everything you have done for me. You have brought me warmth and unbridled support. As I reflect on my life before I met you I realize just how much light you have brought into my life. I met you at a moment in my life that I had lost inspiration. You have shown me how beautiful life can be again. I can’t wait to see where life takes us. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-love, Victor. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuri was already tearing up but he held it in and reached for the next gift. It was a small box, inside was a silver ring with small flowers engraved in it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow this is beautiful Victor. Also I love how we both got each other rings haha.” He put on the ring and held his hand out to show Victor how it looked. Then he reached in for the last gift. It was another small box but this one was more rectangular and when Yuri opened it he gasped and looked at Victor for some kind of explanation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow Victor knew Yuri needed him to reassure him that the gift meant what he thought it did so he explained, “I know we have only known each other for a couple of months now but I wanted you to have this. I want you to feel like you can come to me for anything at any time and I want to share my entire life with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuri looked back down at the box and the tears broke despite his protests. Victor had given Yuri a key to his house and had Yuri’s name painted on it. “Ah sorry I’m such a mess. Thank you. This means so much to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Victor wasn’t really sure what to say so he just stroked Yuri’s back as he let the tears fall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>5 months later</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Victor, my lease is up soon.” He glanced up from his food to look into Victor’s eyes, “should I renew it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you asking if I want to live with you? Because the answer is yes.” He reached his hand across the table and grabbed hold of Yuri’s. “I already gave you a key months ago and I was going to ask if you wanted to move in soon. You practically live here anyway.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh thank goodness.” Yuri had been stressing out about this for weeks now. Victor and Yuri had been dating for over half a year at that point and Yuri’s lease was up in June. He spent most of his time at Victor’s house so it made sense to live together too. But of course Yuri worried that maybe Victor wouldn’t want that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can start packing today if you want? When is the move out date?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need to move out for another month but it would probably be a good idea to start now. I have some furniture I should donate and we will need to make space for my clothes at your place.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Our place.” Victor smiled, “and yes, I do have a lot of clothes… I’m sure we will figure something out.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One month later</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that everything?” Victor asked as he walked up to Yuri and hugged him from behind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think so, I’m just going to double check to make sure I didn’t miss anything.” Victor wouldn’t let go so they waddled around the apartment making sure nothing was left behind in any drawers and double checking that the place was clean enough for the new tenants. It felt weird being in the empty apartment, the sound of their feet shuffling across the hardwood floors echoed in the space and left Yuri feeling a little melancholy. He was excited to live with Victor but he had so many memories in this place and he was going to miss living so close to the coffee shop. Victor’s house was still pretty close, it was around a 15 minute bike ride but Victor insisted on driving him to work most days anyway. “It looks good to me. Are you ready to head out?”, Yuri turned around to kiss Victor’s cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes my love.” He nuzzled into Yuri’s neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um Victor, you are going to have to let me go so we can put our shoes on.” Yuri laughed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reluctantly Victor let go and jokingly dragged his feet over to the front door like his heart had been broken. Victor’s mood quickly changed when he felt Yuri smack his butt playfully and he was back to his happy go lucky self. Yuri took one more look at the vacant apartment before closing the door for the last time. He sighed and smiled as he hooked arms with Victor and walked off to start the next chapter in his life with the person he loves. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please let me know what you think so far! I've never written anything besides poetry before but I couldn't get this cute idea out of my head</p></blockquote></div></div>
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